1. The spectral sensitivity of cone vision in the diurnal murid, Rhabdomys pumilio
- Author
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Anthony A. Vugler, Timothy M. Brown, Jessica Rodgers, Annette E. Allen, Robert J. Lucas, Glen Jeffery, Beatriz Bano-Otalora, Joshua W. Mouland, and Ronald H. Douglas
- Subjects
Opsin ,Rodent ,genetic structures ,Physiology ,Aquatic Science ,Nocturnal ,03 medical and health sciences ,Mice ,0302 clinical medicine ,biology.animal ,medicine ,Animals ,Diurnality ,Molecular Biology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Vision, Ocular ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,Photoreceptor ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,biology ,Opsins ,Chemistry ,Rod Opsins ,biology.organism_classification ,Rats ,Spectral sensitivity ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Insect Science ,Lens (anatomy) ,Biophysics ,Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells ,Animal Science and Zoology ,RE ,sense organs ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Rhabdomys pumilio ,Electroretinography ,Research Article ,Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate - Abstract
An animal's temporal niche – the time of day at which it is active – is known to drive a variety of adaptations in the visual system. These include variations in the topography, spectral sensitivity and density of retinal photoreceptors, and changes in the eye's gross anatomy and spectral transmission characteristics. We have characterised visual spectral sensitivity in the murid rodent Rhabdomys pumilio (the four-striped grass mouse), which is in the same family as (nocturnal) mice and rats but exhibits a strong diurnal niche. As is common in diurnal species, the R. pumilio lens acts as a long-pass spectral filter, providing limited transmission of light, Summary: The visual spectral sensitivity of a diurnal rodent, Rhabdomys pumilio, is biased against UV-A wavelengths thanks to lens filtering, but not cone spectral sensitivity.
- Published
- 2020