Electrical response of bat retina to spectral stimulation: comparison of four microhiropteran species

Experientia. 1979 Sep 15;35(9):1189-91. doi: 10.1007/BF01963279.

Abstract

Electrical responses of the retinas of 4 species of microchiropteran bats stimulated by spectrally restricted light flashes were found to diverge systematically from the rhodopsin absorption spectrum. The divergence was progressively greater across the 4 species. The results appeared explainable by assuming a second photoreceptor class and photopigment which was present in progressively greater numbers in the retinas of Eptesicus fuscus, Desmodus rotundus, Artibeus jamaicensis and Carollia perspicillata.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chiroptera / physiology*
  • Electric Conductivity
  • Retina / physiology*
  • Species Specificity
  • Vision, Ocular*