Heterogeneous Maturation of Retina of the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca

Zueva, L. V.; Golubeva, T. B.; Kerov, Vasily; Zuev, A. V.

doi:10.1023/b:joey.0000023492.28650.28

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…1A) has a well pronounced foveal pit. The angle of the pit depression (about 30 degrees) is not as sharp as in adult birds (20 degrees, Zueva et al, 2003); however, in retinas of young birds the staining of both neurons (light cells) and of Müller cells (dark cells) is clearly visible (Fig. 1A).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…1A). In other aspects, this retina has all the principal features of an adult Flycatcher retina (Zueva et al, 2003). Figure 1 clearly demonstrates that Müller cell endfeet cover the entire inner surface of the retina in the foveal area, including the slopes of the pit (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The “acceptable distortion” Δb will be ~10% of 2 μm ≈ 0.2 μm (λ/2 of the wavelength of blue light, or 0.8 μm for larger endfoot size). It is known that the focal distance of the Pied Flycatcher eye is about 5000 μm (Zueva et al, 2003). In this case, the depth of focusing for a flycatcher eye will be: 5000/10 = 500 μm.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The pit is particularly deep and sharp in eagles (Reymond, 1985), and in smaller birds that need extremely sharp eyesight to help fulfill their hunting needs (Khokhlova et al, 2000; Zueva et al, 2003). Therefore, it is important to explain the possible functional significance of the shape of the foveal pit in relation to visual acuity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If in the adult Pied Flycatcher retina (similarly to adult Aguila), the angle of the foveal pit is near 20° (Zueva et al, 2003), that therefore gives about 1/0.3, approximately 3.33-times of increased surface. This can allow more light fibers to be packed into the area than in a flat retina, subsequently increasing visual acuity in this zone by projection of the visual image to a large para-foveal area using the “optical plate” formed by Müller cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Müller Cell Alignment in Bird Fovea: Possible Role in Vision

Zueva

Makarov

Zayas‐Santiago

et al. 2014

J Neurosci Neuroengng

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Birds which possess high visual acuity, such as eagles and falcons, are known to have retinas with a deep conically curved central foveal pit. There have been different attempts to explain the importance of this particular shape of the fovea in visual resolution. Recently, the function of Müller cells as “light fibers” was discovered, showing how the endfeet of Müller cells trap the light and then transfer it to a single cone photoreceptor. Here we describe how the endfeet of Müller cells line the walls of the foveal pit in the Pied Flycatcher, and how the Müller cell body extends its processes towards individual cones, forming machinery that could allow for light transfer from the pit wall to the photoreceptor layer alongside the pit. We describe how this construction may send an image from the fovea to the cones, and also, how the angular positioning of Müller cells, being optical extensions of the cones, has the advantage of being much denser than on a flat or slightly curved fovea. We, therefore, suggest that this type of optic fiber alignment can be used as a novel type of “amplifying array” that simply increases the amount of megapixels at the photoreceptor cell layer.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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