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Histology 3500 Blog 2: Paper Review

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Histology 3500 Blog 2: Paper Review Paper Reviewed: Molecular basis of infrared detection by snakes Authors: Elena O. Gracheva, Nicholas T. Ingolia, Yvonne M. Kelly, Julio F. Cordero-Morales, Gunther Hollopeter,Alexander T. Chesler, Elda E. Sanchez, John C. Perez, Jonathan S. Weissman & David Julius Paper can viewed on Pubmed at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2855400/ Introduction:           This paper examines the 'thermal imaging' process that enables snakes to capture their prey in a quick and efficient manner. In particular, the paper examines the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake ( Crotalus atrox ), a crolatine snake with an unmatched thermal detection ability. This is accomplished through the use of loreal pit organs present between the eye and nostril on the head of the snake (shown in  Figure 1a). Within the pit is a thin membrane that is heavily innervated with trigeminal nerve fibers (as shown in Figure 1b). These...
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Histology 3500 Blog 1 Tissue Choice: Pit Organs in Snakes

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Date Due: October 22nd 2018 Blog by Alex Byrne Importance of Thermal Detection What a tasty meal may look like to a snake hunting a mouse using its pit organs to detect infrared (IR) radiation. https://www.nature.com/news/2010/100314/images/news.2010.122.mouse.jpg           When we are young, we are told that there are five main senses; hearing, taste, touch, scent and sight. However, many organisms often omit some senses (such as sight in the case of fossorial organisms which have poorer sight), while others have additional senses that extend beyond the traditional five (such as electroreception in sharks). All animals are able to sense temperature and heat to some extent, but snakes are among the animals that have a specialised system that allow for a greater use than simply distinguishing "hot" and "cold". Some groups of snakes have specialised thermal receptive organs called pit organs. These specialised thermal receptors function as part of ...
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