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Science 18 June 1971:
Vol. 172. no. 3989, pp. 1252 - 1253
DOI: 10.1126/science.172.3989.1252
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Articles

Snake Infrared Receptors: Thermal or Photochemical Mechanism?

John F. Harris 1 and R. Igor Gamow 1

1 Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder 80302

It appears that the two most sensitive infrared receptors known in the biological world are found in two widely different families of snakes, the pit vipers and the boas. After an infrared stimulus from a carbon dioxide laser, which has a monochromatic output at 10.6 micrometers, we find evoked potentials in boas with chronically implanted electrodes. Our data suggest that the receptors operate on a thermal principle.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Wide-band spectral tuning of heat receptors in the pit organ of the copperhead snake (Crotalinae).
V. Moiseenkova, B. Bell, M. Motamedi, E. Wozniak, and B. Christensen (2003)
Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 284, R598-R606
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