How does Baffin see the world? If you take a look at the visible spectrum below, reindeer can only see the colours at one end of it. They only see the short (blue) and middle (green) wavelength colours. This means they can distinguish blue from red, but not green from red, or orange from red.
Do reindeer's eyes really change color? If so, why, and how does this adaptation actually work in the wild? The reindeer likely see the winter world as a shade of purple the way a human may see a room with a black light. Why Reindeer Eyes Change Color with the Seasons: Reindeer Eye Color Mystery Solved Reindeer, also known as caribou in North America, inhabit some of the coldest and darkest parts of our planet. These remarkable creatures face months of near.
In the harsh Arctic environment, where darkness reigns for months and snow blankets the landscape, reindeer have evolved one of the most sophisticated visual systems in the mammalian world. Their extraordinary adaptations not only allow them to survive but thrive in conditions that would leave most other mammals effectively blind. The study, Reindeer and the quest for Scottish enlichtment, found that while the colour shift in the species' eyes may help them see better in the peak of winter when snowfall is heavy, it also.
This means that during those deep winter months, reindeer eyes are capturing light that we humans can't see. The authors surmised two things: that being able to see UV light provides a significant visual advantage in the arctic winter and that reindeer must have evolved some protection against UV light. And so began his mission to understand the mysterious colour-changing structure in the eyes of reindeer, and the impact it has on their ability to see in the dramatically different seasonal light.
What color are reindeer eyes? Depends on the season. An astrophysicist and an eye expert teamed up to solve the mystery of how and why reindeers' eyes switch from yellow to blue in wintertime.