Sclera Sclera The sclera, also known as the white of the eye, is the opaque, fibrous, protective, outer layer of the human eye containing mainly collagen and some elastic fiber. In humans, the whole sclera is white, contrasting with the coloured iris, but in other mammals the visible part of the sclera matches the colour of the iris, so the white part does not normally show. In the development of the embryo, the sclera is derived from the neural crest. In children, it is thinner and shows some of the underlying pigment, appearing slightly blue. In the elderly, fatty deposits on
Cooperative eye hypothesis sclera, and irises. Human eyes are also larger in proportion to body size, and are longer horizontally. Among primates, humans are the only ones where the outline of the eye and the position of the iris can be clearly seen. The cooperative eye hypothesis was first proposed by H. Kobayashi and S. Khoshima in 2002 and was subsequently tested by Michael Tomasello and others at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. Researchers examined the effect of head and eye movement on changing gaze direction in humans and great apes. A human experimenter, observed by either a human