Related Experiment Videos
Retinal receptors in rodents maximally sensitive to ultraviolet light
G H Jacobs1, J Neitz, J F Deegan
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106.
Nature
|October 17, 1991
Abstract:
High sensitivity to near-ultraviolet light is a fundamental feature of vision in many invertebrates. Among vertebrates there are some amphibians, birds and fishes that are also sensitive to near-ultraviolet wavelengths. This sensitivity can be achieved through a class of cone photoreceptor containing an ultraviolet-sensitive pigment. Although these receptors were thought not to exist in the eyes of mammals, we now report that some rodents have a retinal mechanism that is maximally sensitive to ultraviolet light.