He characterized three main classes of Eimer’s receptors, including one of slow adaptation ( Tonic receptor) and two of rapid adaptation ( Phasic receptor). The rapid adapting responses include a Pacinian-like response based on an (on-off) response caused by pressure and mechanical vibrations with maximum sensitivity to stimuli at a frequency of 250 Hz. The myelinated fibers innervating the 11 rays were photographed and counted from an enlarged photomontage by Catania and colleagues. The development of the star-like appendages suggests precursors with proto-appendages on an ancestor's snout, which became elevated over successive generations. When the outer appendages of the star come into slight contact with a potential food source, the nose is quickly shifted so that one or more touches are made with the fovea (the two lower appendages; 11th pair) to explore objects of interest in more detail – especially potential prey.

One proposes the development of the structure of the star as a consequence of the selective pressure of the star-nosed mole's wetland habitat. By bidding on, or purchasing this item, you are agreeing to us sharing your name and address details with that 3rd party supplier to allow us to fulfil our contractual obligations to you. This large amount of specialized receptors makes the star ultrasensitive – about 6 times more sensitive than the human hand, which contains about 17,000 receptors. Each Eimer’s organ is supplied by a number of primary afferents, thus the star is densely innervated. The appendages do not contain muscles or bones and are not used to manipulate objects or capture prey.

But after several days, Mole misses his favourite rock so pops out of his burrow and finds the world is in darkness. Please contact your hosting provider to ensure that an up-to-date and valid SSL certificate issued by a Certificate Authority is configured for this domain name on the origin server. Due to the small invertebrate prey available in the wetlands, the star-nosed mole has developed handling times as short as 120 ms. Thus, tweezer-like teeth and the exquisitely sensitive star likely evolved together as a means to better find and handle small prey quickly. The nasal star and dentition of this species appear to be primarily adapted to exploit extremely small prey.

The range of landscapes from underground burrows to the vastness of the night sky is simply and well executed and never threatens to overwhelm the child reader. In some favorable cases, a smaller third set of stripes was also apparent; opposite to other body structures that have a unique representation, with each half of the body represented in the opposite cerebral hemisphere. In this way, the star works as a "tactile eye" where the peripheral rays (1–10 on each side) study the surroundings with erratic saccade-like movements and direct the 11th ray to objects of interest, just like the primate’s foveating eye.In other words, they behave in such a way as to find, capture and consume food containing the most calories while expending the least amount of time possible in doing so. There’s just one problem: now that Mole’s burrow is full of beautiful, shining stars, none of the other animals can enjoy them . The other thing I see being hit and miss is the art, it may not be to some people's taste but in my opinion to be honest this book is pretty stunning and would be amazing as an exercise for students to attempt to evoke the night time scenes and the use of black upon black. Eimer’s organ is a sensory structure also found in nearly all of the approximately 30 species of mole, [20] however none contains as many as in Condylura.