Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've also posted this in another forum, but I figured I'd post it here as well since leopard gecko's are a prime example of a nocturnal reptile, and the one that I have the most first-hand experience with:

I'm currently in second year neuroscience and we were discussing reptilian vision in class yesterday
My prof (who in my opinion has zero credibilty) made the claim that ALL reptiles have ONLY cones in their eyes... they have adapted to be completely diurnal and CANNOT see at night.

Owning two cornsnakes and a leopard gecko, both nocturnal species, I asked how the thousands of nocturnal reptile species can see properly if they in fact only have cones...this seems kind of strange to me...
in fact, when you look at the statement rationally, it seems completely false... in her next slide she talked about rodents being primarily nocturnal with primarily rods in the eye... rodents being a staple in most snakes' diet, you'd think snakes would be primarily nocturnal as well?

Anyways, when i asked if she was sure that ALL reptiles have ONLY cones she said yes... all reptiles have only cones... i asked her then how my pets can see and she said, and i quote "well i guess they can't...moving on" I was completely baffled by this and would like to know if anyone here can give me any information on vision in nocturnal reptile species

pointing me in the direction of some good diagrams would be awesome.

Thank you.
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Alexandria Neonakis
Owner of:
Olivia the Female Green Ig
Maize(f) and Onyx(m) the cornsnakes
Peter(m) and Lois(f) the Leopard Geckos

Now I'm not as advanced in that kind of stuff as you are but immediately I sense what I like to call BULLCRAP.I could be wrong but how would it be possible for a nocturnal reptile (besides snakes with heat pits) could eat at night if they couldn't see?

I agree. I don't know anything about what you are studying, but I do own nocturnal reptiles that I see eat at night (with nothing but infrared lighting) and I have common sense. I know your prof went to school and is well educated, so I'm not trying to offend her, but she sounds a little closed minded to me.
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Emily

2.4.3 leopard geckos (Nelson, Zander, Zoe, Baby, Houdini, Munch, Gizmo, Zig-Zag & Beau)
1.1 ferrets (Oliver and Delilah)
1. budgie (Max)
0.0.1 Ring neck Parakeet (Kiwi)
1.1 German Shepards (Jake and Abigail)

The Spotted Gecko
**Updated 10-5-04**

Close minded is not the word hmm....how about not capable of forming common sense answers and being ignorant?

http://www.anapsid.org/sight.html

I do believe that all reptiles have both rods and cones in their eyes but in different quantities than most other animals. These differences enable the nocturnal retiles and all nocturnal animals to see at night. This I know from the elementary 4th-6th grade science that I teach. I am by no means an expert in the field but this is a very elementary fact.

I did a very quick GOOGLE search and came up with this tidbit of info and I am sure you will find way more. I just didn't have the time. Your professor probably was way too embarrassed and probably a little too egotistical to admit that they were wrong!!!!

Good luck with you studies and know that you are right!!!

Suzanne

hey thanks everyone!

and thanks for the melissa kaplan link, i've checked that one out and a few other people have given me some good evidence.

I just hate ignorant statements, and claiming that ALL reptiles have ONLY cones and that's a fact seems completely ignorant to me... a science prof more than any other type of prof should know better than to make such finalized statements.

and one other person made the comment that she wouldnt' want to offend a prof... trust me, I used to feel that way too, but when you're paying 8,000$ a year to listen to what these people have to say, you want to be 100% sure that what they're saying is correct... and this isn't the first time she's made a ridiculous claim like this

she's VERY egotistical and way too proud to admit she doesn't know something, so she just makes stuff up... NOT acceptable when dealing with someone's education

my high school teachers would whack her upside the head
I think I'll write up a little report for monday and demand she explain her error to everyone in the class...or I will.
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Alexandria Neonakis
Owner of:
Olivia the Female Green Ig
Maize(f) and Onyx(m) the cornsnakes
Peter(m) and Lois(f) the Leopard Geckos

>>hey thanks everyone!
>>
>>and thanks for the melissa kaplan link, i've checked that one out and a few other people have given me some good evidence.
>>
>>I just hate ignorant statements, and claiming that ALL reptiles have ONLY cones and that's a fact seems completely ignorant to me... a science prof more than any other type of prof should know better than to make such finalized statements.
>>
>>and one other person made the comment that she wouldnt' want to offend a prof... trust me, I used to feel that way too, but when you're paying 8,000$ a year to listen to what these people have to say, you want to be 100% sure that what they're saying is correct... and this isn't the first time she's made a ridiculous claim like this
>>
>>she's VERY egotistical and way too proud to admit she doesn't know something, so she just makes stuff up... NOT acceptable when dealing with someone's education
>>
>>my high school teachers would whack her upside the head
>>I think I'll write up a little report for monday and demand she explain her error to everyone in the class...or I will.
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>>Alexandria Neonakis
>>Owner of:
>>Olivia the Female Green Ig
>>Maize(f) and Onyx(m) the cornsnakes
>>Peter(m) and Lois(f) the Leopard Geckos
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Katie
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
My Email

My science teacher tried saying an iguana was a tuatara.When in actuality a tuatara is a tuatara.