Jenna Crowe-riddell
Medicine
University of Adelaide
Australia
Biography
My area of interest is in the evolutionary biology of vertebrate sensory systems. I have always been fascinated by the way that every living organism shares their environment with other organisms and yet, through their unique set of senses, forms an entirely different perception of their surrounding world. Pythons can sense infrared, many birds can see ultraviolet and a stingray can feel the electromagnetic field of its prey. My research asks the broad question: how do these differences in sensory abilities shape the evolutionary trajectory of that species? My PhD project aims to describe a unique sensory ability in sea snakes. Night divers first observed the remarkable adaptation of olive sea snakes when they noticed that sheltering snakes retracted their vulnerable tail paddles in response to torchlight. This was the first recording of a reptile responding to light on the skin and this rare example of ‘eyeless vision' may represent a new predator escape strategy.
Research Interest
Medicine,Medical Education,Research,etc
