Infrared Receptors and the Trigeminal Sensory System

Since the early 1950s, work has been undertaken on the infrared sensory organs of snakes by a handful of investigators around the world. Despite progress in uncovering the morphological, physiological and behavioral functions of these organs, study was discontinued by most of these workers. Not the least of the reasons was the fact that the infrared organs are possessed either by highly venomous snakes, the pit vipers, or by equally dangerous snakes because of their size, the pythons and boas. Only Drs Shin-ichi Terashima, MD, Ph.D. and Richard C. Goris, Ph.D. have continued to work actively on these sensory organs, their work spanning the 30 years from 1967 to the present. A first collection of their works, Infrared Sensory System, was published by the university of the Ryukyus in 1987. The present volume presents the papers by Terashima, Goris and their colleagues from 1987 to the present. Much new light is shed on the physiology and morphology of these organs, which can truly be said to be infrared 'eyes' whose input is integrated with that from the eyes. This volume will be of considerable interest to all those interested in infrared detection of any kind, whether in nature or in its multifarious industrial applications.