Amphibians and reptiles come in a bewildering array of shapes and colours – many can change their colour according to mood, time of year or season… this male green lizard, for example, only develops this lovely blue colouration during the breeding season to show off to females! It might not be surprising then, that since the first amphibians evolved 370 million years ago they’ve had time to perfect their appreciation of colours in every day life.

Most amphibians and reptiles have four kinds of colour receptors in their eyes, and a very good perception of colours, much better in fact than humans which only have three types of colour receptors (and way better than dogs and cats, which only have limited ability to see certain colours!). This amazing ability is reflected in the colours and diversity of pattern found in amphibian and reptile eyes – they’re often so distinctive that just a wink from a frog or lizard can help you identify the species!

People have visibly been improving their amphibian and reptile identification skills! Over 100 have completed our fun THE EYES HAVE IT! quiz so far with an average score of 9.6 points out of 12… But only a total of 14 people scored full marks!

Are you up to the challenge of trying it? Have a go and see how well you do!