Morphological analyses of the retinal photoreceptor cells in the nocturnally adapted owl monkeys

Owl monkeys are the only one species possessing the nocturnal lifestyles among the simian monkeys. Their eyes and retinas have been interested associating with the nocturnal adaptation. We examined the cellular specificity and electroretinogram (ERG) reactivity in the retina of the owl monkeys by co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 2018, Vol.80(3), pp.413-420
Main Authors: KUNIYOSHI, Nobue, YOSHIDA, Yuji, ITOH, Yoshiki, YOKOTA, Shin-ichi, KURAISHI, Takeshi, HATTORI, Shosaku, KONDO, Tomohiro, YOSHIZAWA, Midori, KAI, Chieko, KISO, Yasuo, KUSAKABE, Ken Takeshi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anatomy
Diurnal
Electroretinograms
evolution
Monkeys
Morphology
Nocturnal
owl monkey
photoreceptor cell
Photoreceptors
Retina
Retinal ganglion cells
Saimiri
Scanning electron microscopy
Segments
squirrel monkey
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Summary:Owl monkeys are the only one species possessing the nocturnal lifestyles among the simian monkeys. Their eyes and retinas have been interested associating with the nocturnal adaptation. We examined the cellular specificity and electroretinogram (ERG) reactivity in the retina of the owl monkeys by comparison with the squirrel monkeys, taxonomically close-species and expressing diurnal behavior. Owl monkeys did not have clear structure of the foveal pit by the funduscope, whereas the retinal wholemount specimens indicated a small-condensed spot of the ganglion cells. There were abundant numbers of the rod photoreceptor cells in owl monkeys than those of the squirrel monkeys. However, the owl monkeys’ retina did not possess superiority for rod cell-reactivity in the scotopic ERG responses. Scanning electron microscopic observation revealed that the rod cells in owl monkeys’ retina had very small-sized inner and outer segments as compared with squirrel monkeys. Owl monkeys showed typical nocturnal traits such as rod-cell dominance. However, the individual photoreceptor cells seemed to be functionally weak for visual capacity, caused from the morphological immaturity at the inner and outer segments.
ISSN:0916-7250
1347-7439
DOI:10.1292/jvms.17-0418