Specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea
Abstract The retinae of many bird species contain a depression with high photoreceptor density known as the fovea. Many species of raptors have two foveae, a deep central fovea and a shallower temporal fovea. Birds have six types of photoreceptors: rods, active in dim light, double cones that are th...
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crwiley:10.1002/cne.24190 2024-09-15T18:05:28+00:00 Specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea Mitkus, Mindaugas Olsson, Peter Toomey, Matthew B. Corbo, Joseph C. Kelber, Almut Human Frontier Science Program National Institutes of Health National Science Foundation National Institutes of Health 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.24190 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fcne.24190 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cne.24190 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/cne.24190 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/cne.24190 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Comparative Neurology volume 525, issue 9, page 2152-2163 ISSN 0021-9967 1096-9861 journal-article 2017 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.24190 2024-08-27T04:27:29Z Abstract The retinae of many bird species contain a depression with high photoreceptor density known as the fovea. Many species of raptors have two foveae, a deep central fovea and a shallower temporal fovea. Birds have six types of photoreceptors: rods, active in dim light, double cones that are thought to mediate achromatic discrimination, and four types of single cones mediating color vision. To maximize visual acuity, the fovea should only contain photoreceptors contributing to high‐resolution vision. Interestingly, it has been suggested that raptors might lack double cones in the fovea. We used transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry to evaluate this claim in five raptor species: the common buzzard ( Buteo buteo ), the honey buzzard ( Pernis apivorus ), the Eurasian sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus ), the red kite ( Milvus milvus ), and the peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus ). We found that all species, except the Eurasian sparrowhawk, lack double cones in the center of the central fovea. The size of the double cone‐free zone differed between species. Only the common buzzard had a double cone‐free zone in the temporal fovea. In three species, we examined opsin expression in the central fovea and found evidence that rod opsin positive cells were absent and violet‐sensitive cone and green‐sensitive cone opsin positive cells were present. We conclude that not only double cones, but also single cones may contribute to high‐resolution vision in birds, and that raptors may in fact possess high‐resolution tetrachromatic vision in the central fovea. Article in Journal/Newspaper Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon Wiley Online Library Journal of Comparative Neurology 525 9 2152 2163 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The retinae of many bird species contain a depression with high photoreceptor density known as the fovea. Many species of raptors have two foveae, a deep central fovea and a shallower temporal fovea. Birds have six types of photoreceptors: rods, active in dim light, double cones that are thought to mediate achromatic discrimination, and four types of single cones mediating color vision. To maximize visual acuity, the fovea should only contain photoreceptors contributing to high‐resolution vision. Interestingly, it has been suggested that raptors might lack double cones in the fovea. We used transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry to evaluate this claim in five raptor species: the common buzzard ( Buteo buteo ), the honey buzzard ( Pernis apivorus ), the Eurasian sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus ), the red kite ( Milvus milvus ), and the peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus ). We found that all species, except the Eurasian sparrowhawk, lack double cones in the center of the central fovea. The size of the double cone‐free zone differed between species. Only the common buzzard had a double cone‐free zone in the temporal fovea. In three species, we examined opsin expression in the central fovea and found evidence that rod opsin positive cells were absent and violet‐sensitive cone and green‐sensitive cone opsin positive cells were present. We conclude that not only double cones, but also single cones may contribute to high‐resolution vision in birds, and that raptors may in fact possess high‐resolution tetrachromatic vision in the central fovea. |
author2 |
Human Frontier Science Program National Institutes of Health National Science Foundation National Institutes of Health |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mitkus, Mindaugas Olsson, Peter Toomey, Matthew B. Corbo, Joseph C. Kelber, Almut |
spellingShingle |
Mitkus, Mindaugas Olsson, Peter Toomey, Matthew B. Corbo, Joseph C. Kelber, Almut Specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea |
author_facet |
Mitkus, Mindaugas Olsson, Peter Toomey, Matthew B. Corbo, Joseph C. Kelber, Almut |
author_sort |
Mitkus, Mindaugas |
title |
Specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea |
title_short |
Specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea |
title_full |
Specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea |
title_fullStr |
Specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea |
title_sort |
specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.24190 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fcne.24190 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cne.24190 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/cne.24190 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/cne.24190 |
genre |
Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon |
genre_facet |
Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon |
op_source |
Journal of Comparative Neurology volume 525, issue 9, page 2152-2163 ISSN 0021-9967 1096-9861 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.24190 |
container_title |
Journal of Comparative Neurology |
container_volume |
525 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2152 |
op_container_end_page |
2163 |
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1810443012913758208 |