PII: S1350-9462(01)00009-X The Visual Ecology of Avian Photoreceptors Nathan S. Hart* Vision, Touch and Hearing Research Centre, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia CONTENTS Abstract . 676 1. Introduction . 676 1.1. The avian visual system . 676 1.2. Microspectrophotometry and the study ofavian vision . 676 2. Avian retinal photoreceptors . 681 2.1. Visual pigments . 681 2.2. Cone oil droplets . 684 3. UVS/VS cones . 685 3.1. Microspectrophotometric data . 685 3.2. Spectral tuning and phylogeny . 685 3.3. Evolution ofSWS1 opsin-based visual pigments in birds . 686 3.4. The short wavelength limit ofphotoreception . 686 4. SWS single cones. 687 4.1. Microspectrophotometric data . 687 4.2. Dependence upon UVS/VS single cone spectral sensitivity . 688 4.3. Spectral tuning . 688 5. Rods and MWS single cones . 688 5.1. Comparison ofavian RH1 and RH2 opsins . 688 5.2. The duplex retina . 689 5.3. Factors influencing rod visual pigment kmax ........................ 689 6. LWS single and double cones . 691 6.1. Microspectrophotometric data . 691 6.2. Spectral tuning . 691 6.3. Effect ofoil droplet transmittance on spectral sensitivity . 692 6.4. Double cones and the interspecific variation in LWS visual pigment kmax ........ 692 6.5. Spectral filtering by double cone oil droplets . 694 7. Variations in the relative proportions ofdifferent cone types . 695 7.1. Interspecific variations . 695 7.2. Intraretinal variations . 696 7.3. Bilateral asymmetry . 697 8. Conclusions . 697 9. Future directions . 698 Acknowledgements . 698 References . 698 *Tel.: +61-7-3365-1867; fax: +61-7-3365-4522; e-mail:
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