Wavelength discrimination in the ?visible? and ultraviolet spectrum by pigeons

Emmerton, Jacky; Delhis, Juan D.

doi:10.1007/bf00611877

Cited by 131 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The visual behaviour of the pigeon has been well studied, and while not a major pollination vector, the Dl/l function for the pigeon has been measured and is a representation of the visual capabilities of the VS group of birds. Behavioural data for wavelength discrimination by pigeons show minima at 460, 540 and 600 nm [68,69], and qualitatively similar values have been empirically measured for the hummingbird [70]. Thus, the visual system of VS birds does not correspond well with the high frequency of flower inflection points in figure 2.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Parallel evolution of angiosperm colour signals: common evolutionary pressures linked to hymenopteran vision

et al. 2012

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Flowering plants in Australia have been geographically isolated for more than 34 million years. In the Northern Hemisphere, previous work has revealed a close fit between the optimal discrimination capabilities of hymenopteran pollinators and the flower colours that have most frequently evolved. We collected spectral data from 111 Australian native flowers and tested signal appearance considering the colour discrimination capabilities of potentially important pollinators. The highest frequency of flower reflectance curves is consistent with data reported for the Northern Hemisphere. The subsequent mapping of Australian flower reflectances into a bee colour space reveals a very similar distribution of flower colour evolution to the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, flowering plants in Australia are likely to have independently evolved spectral signals that maximize colour discrimination by hymenoptera. Moreover, we found that the degree of variability in flower coloration for particular angiosperm species matched the range of reflectance colours that can only be discriminated by bees that have experienced differential conditioning. This observation suggests a requirement for plasticity in the nervous systems of pollinators to allow generalization of flowers of the same species while overcoming the possible presence of non-rewarding flower mimics.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Parallel evolution of angiosperm colour signals: common evolutionary pressures linked to hymenopteran vision

et al. 2012

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“…The pigeon is a highly visual bird with particular strengths in luminance (Hodos et al, 1985) and color (Emmerton and Delius, 1980) discrimination, outperforming humans in these tasks. Its behavioral acuity (12.6 cyc/°) (Hahmann and Güntürkün, 1993) surpasses many mammalian species (Van Hooser and Nelson, 2006) and is even three times higher than the barn owl (Harmening et al, 2009).…”

Section: Lack Of Orientation Maps Despite Orientation Selectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominant Vertical Orientation Processing without Clustered Maps: Early Visual Brain Dynamics Imaged with Voltage-Sensitive Dye in the Pigeon Visual Wulst

Ng¹,

Grabska-Barwińska²,

Güntürkün³

et al. 2010

J. Neurosci.

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The pigeon is a widely established behavioral model of visual cognition, but the processes along its most basic visual pathways remain mostly unexplored. Here, we report the neuronal population dynamics of the visual Wulst, an assumed homolog of the mammalian striate cortex, captured for the first time with voltage-sensitive dye imaging. Responses to drifting gratings were characterized by focal emergence of activity that spread extensively across the entire Wulst, followed by rapid adaptation that was most effective in the surround. Using additional electrophysiological recordings, we found cells that prefer a variety of orientations. However, analysis of the imaged spatiotemporal activation patterns revealed no clustered orientation map-like arrangements as typically found in the primary visual cortices of many mammalian species. Instead, the vertical orientation was overrepresented, both in terms of the imaged population signal, as well as the number of neurons preferring the vertical orientation. Such enhanced selectivity for the vertical orientation may result from horizontal motion vectors that trigger adaptation to the extensive flow field input during natural behavior. Our findings suggest that, although the avian visual Wulst is homologous to the primary visual cortex in terms of its gross anatomical connectivity and topology, its detailed operation and internal organization is still shaped according to specific input characteristics.

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“…37). This is possible because the pigeon's cornea, lens, and vitreous body transmit both ''visible'' and UV light (38). Once the UV light reaches the retina, the pigeon can detect it with the violet pigments that are sensitive to wavelengths between 320 and 450 nm (Fig.…”

Section: Molecular Evolution Of the Avian Uv Pigments: Hypothesis Tesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultraviolet pigments in birds evolved from violet pigments by a single amino acid change

Yokoyama

Radlwimmer

Blow

2000

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

121

145

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UV vision has profound effects on the evolution of organisms by affecting such behaviors as mating preference and foraging strategies. Despite its importance, the molecular basis of UV vision is not known. Here, we have transformed the zebra finch UV pigment into a violet pigment by incorporating one amino acid change, C84S. By incorporating the reverse mutations, we have also constructed UV pigments from the orthologous violet pigments of the pigeon and chicken. These results and comparative amino acid sequence analyses of the pigments in vertebrates demonstrate that many avian species have achieved their UV vision by S84C.

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Wavelength discrimination in the ?visible? and ultraviolet spectrum by pigeons

Cited by 131 publications

References 25 publications

Parallel evolution of angiosperm colour signals: common evolutionary pressures linked to hymenopteran vision

Parallel evolution of angiosperm colour signals: common evolutionary pressures linked to hymenopteran vision

Dominant Vertical Orientation Processing without Clustered Maps: Early Visual Brain Dynamics Imaged with Voltage-Sensitive Dye in the Pigeon Visual Wulst

Ultraviolet pigments in birds evolved from violet pigments by a single amino acid change

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