The Amazing Eyes of the Mantis Shrimp

One of God’s created sea creatures may one day inspire better DVD players! Mantis shrimp have “the most complex vision systems known to science.”

The eyes of the mantis shrimp perform better than human eyes in two key ways. First, while human eyes can only see three colors (which combine to make up all visible colors in the spectrum), the mantis shrimp can see twelve. Second, the shrimp’s eyes are able to convert polarized light to a different polarity. A team of American, Australian, and British scientists report on the incredible design in Nature Photonics.

The shrimp’s eyes are actually similar in some respects to technology called quarter-wave plates, which are designed to convert light polarity in CD and DVD players, and some camera filters. However, quarter-wave plates only work well for one color of light. The eyes of the mantis shrimp, on the other hand, work well across a broad light spectrum, much broader than that of human-made devices. The researchers believe mantis shrimp use this special ability in hunting and communication.

Nicholas Roberts, of the University of Bristol’s Ecology of Vision unit, said of the shrimp’s eye,

“It really is exceptional—out-performing anything we humans have so far been able to create. What’s particularly exciting is how beautifully simple it is . . . It could help us make better optical devices in the future.”

While human-engineered technology accomplishes incredible tasks and requires great ingenuity (both to create and sometimes to operate!), time and time again we find God’s designs are far superior. It is not wise to think that the superior design in living creatures is the directionless result of time, chance, and the laws of nature working on raw matter, as evolutionists claim.