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Visual adaptations in a diurnal rodent, Octodon degus

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Abstract

The degu (Octodon degus) is a diurnal rodent, native to Chile. Basic features of vision and visual organization in this species were examined in a series of anatomical, electrophysiological and behavioral experiments. The lens of the degu eye selectively absorbs short-wavelength light and shows a progressive increase in optical density as a function of age. Electroretinograms recorded using a flicker-photometric procedure reveal three spectral mechanisms: a rod with peak sensitivity of about 500 nm and two types of cone having respective spectral peaks of about 362 nm and 507 nm. Opsin antibody labeling was used to determine the retinal distributions of the three receptor types. A total of about one-third of the approximately 9 million photoreceptors of the degu retina are cones with the two types (507 nm/362 nm) represented in a ratio of about 13:1. The contributions to vision of all three receptor types were examined in a series of behavioral experiments. A consistent feature of both the electrophysiological and behavioral results is that relatively high levels of light adaptation are required to effect the full transition from rod-based to cone-based vision. In behavioral tests degus were shown to be able to make color discriminations between ultraviolet and visible lights.

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Abbreviations

ERG:

electroretinogram

M:

middle-wavelength-sensitive

S:

short-wavelength-sensitive

UV:

ultraviolet

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Acknowledgements

We thank T.M. Lee and B.A. Tate for providing animals and J.A. Endler for loaning us equipment. This research was supported by a grant from the National Eye Institute (EY02052). All animal care and experimental procedures were in accordance with institutional animal care and use guidelines and with the Principles of animal care, publication No.86-23, revised 1985 of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

    G. H. Jacobs, J. B. Calderone, J. A. Fenwick, K. Krogh & G. A. Williams

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  1. G. H. Jacobs
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  2. J. B. Calderone
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  3. J. A. Fenwick
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  4. K. Krogh
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  5. G. A. Williams
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Correspondence to G. H. Jacobs.

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Jacobs, G.H., Calderone, J.B., Fenwick, J.A. et al. Visual adaptations in a diurnal rodent, Octodon degus . J Comp Physiol A 189, 347–361 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-003-0408-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-003-0408-0

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