How do animals see? This is one of the old challenges facing science. Now, there have been new developments that can help to understand this exciting field. After examining vision data from hundreds of species, biologists from the University of Arkansas (USA) Deepen understanding of how animals see, including the colors they see. The result is that environment and genetic mutations It affects how vertebrates and invertebrates see.
These researchers identified land-adapted animals can see more colors than water-adapted species. Also, animals adapted to open terrestrial habitats see a wider range of colors than animals adapted to forests and other dense habitats.
Again, Evolutionary history, primarily the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates, significantly influences the colors a species sees. According to the study, invertebrates see light at shorter wavelengths compared to vertebrates.
Biological sciences doctoral student Matt Murphy and assistant professor Erica Westerman recently published these findings in a journal. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Their paper, titled ‘Evolutionary history limits species’ ability to match color sensitivity to available habitat light’, explains how environment, evolution, and to some extent genetic makeup, affect how animals see and what colors they see.
“Scientists have long assumed that animals’ vision evolves to match the colors of light found in their environment,” Westerman said. Said. “But testing this hypothesis is difficult, and there is still much we do not know about animal vision. Collecting data from hundreds of animal species living in a wide variety of habitats, particularly Invertebrates and vertebrates use different types of cells in their eyes to convert light energy into neural responses.‘, he explained.
The secret is in the opsins, the proteins of the eye.
An animal’s ability to perceive visual information depends on the wavelengths and intensity of light in a particular environment. At the same time, The amount and wavelength sensitivity of a family of retinal proteins called opsins govern the spectrum of light an animal sees. far from ultraviolet to red light.
However, invertebrates and vertebrates use phylogenetically different opsins in their retinas and The researchers did not determine whether these different opsins affect what the animals see. or how they adapt to light environments.
Murphy and Westerman collected vision data for 446 animal species spanning four groups, or filae. One of these groups included vertebrates, animals with backbones such as fish and humans. The rest corresponded to invertebrates, those without backbones such as insects, squid and jellyfish.
Environmental compliance is not everything
The researchers’ study showed that sWhile animals adapt to the environment, their ability to adapt may be physiologically limited. Vertebrates and invertebrates commonly use the same cell type, opsins, but build these cells differently. This physiological differenceWhat biologists refer to as ciliary opsins in vertebrates and rhabdomeric opsins in invertebrates may explain why invertebrates are better at seeing short wavelength light, even if the habitat has to favor vertebrates with short wavelength light, shortwave vision.
However, heone difference may be due to stochastic genetic mutations that occur in vertebrates but not invertebrates.said Westerman. These mutations may also limit the light range in vertebrate vision.
“Our study answers some important questions,” Murphy said, “but it also generate more questions this can help us better understand animal vision. We can do more research to understand differences in the structure of vertebrate and invertebrate retinas, or how their brains handle visual information differently. These are interesting questions.”
Reference work: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.0612
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