Article in Press
ARTICLE IN PRESS Please cite this article in press as: Pettigrew JD, et al., Primate-like retinotectal decussation in an echolocating megabat, ROUSET- TUS AEGYPTIACUS, Neuroscience (2008), doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.02.019 Neuroscience xx (2008) xxx PRIMATE-LIKE RETINOTECTAL DECUSSATION IN AN ECHOLOCATING MEGABAT, ROUSETTUS AEGYPTIACUS J. D. PETTIGREW,a* B. C. MASEKOb sophisticated, Doppler-shift compensated laryngeal echo- b AND P. R. MANGER location; they have microchromosomes in their karyotype; aQueensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland 4072, Upland and they have a relatively simple brain organization (ex- Road, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia cluding the auditory system) resembling that of insecti- bSchool of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Univer- vores (Manger et al., 2001; Maseko and Manger, 2007). In sity of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, Johannes- contrast, megabats have no nose leaf or laryngeal echo- burg, Republic of South Africa location, a normal karyotype, a unique papillated retina and a complex brain (Rosa, 1999; Manger and Rosa, Abstract—The current study was designed to reveal the reti- 2005; Maseko et al., 2007) with visual connections akin to notectal pathway in the brain of the echolocating megabat the pattern found otherwise only in primates (Allman 1977; Rousettus aegyptiacus. The retinotectal pathway of other Pettigrew, 1986). Molecular evidence from serum proteins species of megabats shows the primate-like pattern of de- (Schreiber et al., 1994), hemoglobin (Pettigrew et al., cussation in the retina; however, it has been reported that the echolocating Rousettus did not share this feature. To test 1989), alpha-crystallin (Jaworski, 1995) and other proteins this prior result we injected fluorescent dextran tract tracers contradict the DNA evidence that aligns rhinolophoids with into the right (fluororuby) and left (fluoroemerald) superior the very different megabats, as does morphological anal- colliculi of three adult Rousettus.
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