By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer |
February 13, 2017 07:07am ET
As its name implies, the cockeyed
squid has some peculiar peepers: One is small and black, and the other is
exceptionally large and yellow. Now, scientists think they know the reason for
the squid's wonky eyes: They help the squid spy on prey and predators in the
ocean's so-called twilight zone.
By observing the squid in
underwater videos, the researchers found that the creature used its large eye
to look upward and its small eye to gaze downward, helping it keep a constant
lookout for potential meals and threats surrounding it, the researchers said.
"Eyes are really expensive
to make and maintain," lead study researcher Kate Thomas, a graduate
student of biology at Duke University, said in a statement. "You want eyes
just big enough to do what you need to do, but you don't want to have any
bigger eyes, because then you are just wasting resources."
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