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Glow in the Dark
April's Pic of the Month is by Paul Bodnar. It's quite a striking picture of a dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) clearly showing a reflective eyeshine from the camera's flash. The eyeshine is produced because light enters the eye, passes over the light-sensitive cells, then hits a reflective layer in the retina called the tapetum lucidum, which bounces the light back out past the light-sensitive cells again (doubling light sensitivity) and out of the eye. If the light source is close to your eyes, you'll see this reflected light as an intense red "eyeshine". It's typically seen at night when you shine a spotlight across the water towards a crocodile while looking straight down the beam, and occasionally you can also see it in flash photography. Of course, crocodiles are not unique in having this reflective layer (cats being a more familiar example) but the reflection from the eyes of a crocodile is really quite unmistakable.
Would you like to enter your best photograph as a potential Pic of the Month? Send it to me and I'll include the best here each month. The very best photos at the end of the year usually receive a prize - something small but suitably crocodilian. To be in contention the picture must, above all, capture your attention.
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