...George S. Bakken; Samantha E. Colayori; Taihung Duong SUMMARY The pitviper facial pit is a pinhole camera-like sensory organ consisting of a flask-shaped cavity divided into two chambers by a suspended membrane. Neurophysiological studies and simplified optical models suggest that facial pits...

...George S. Bakken; Aaron R. Krochmal SUMMARY It is commonly assumed that the facial pit of pitvipers forms relatively sharp images and can detect small differences in environmental surface temperatures. We have visualized the temperature contrast images formed on the facial pit membrane using...

...Aaron R. Krochmal; George S. Bakken; Travis J. LaDuc SUMMARY Pitvipers (Viperidae: Crotalinae) possess thermal radiation receptors, the facial pits, which allow them to detect modest temperature fluctuations within their environments. It was previously thought that these organs were used solely...

...Aaron R. Krochmal; George S. Bakken SUMMARY Pitvipers ( Viperidae : Crotalinae) possess unique sensory organs,the facial pits, capable of sensing subtle fluctuations in thermal radiation. Prey acquisition has long been regarded as the sole function of the facial pits. However, the ability to sense...