The Visual System in Vertebrates

✍ Scribed by F. Crescitelli, C.A. Dvorak, D.J. Eder, A.M. Granda, D. Hamasaki, K. Holmberg, A. Hughes, N.A. Locket, W.N. McFarland, D.B. Meyer, W.R.A. Muntz, F.W. Munz, E.C. Olson, R.W. Reyer (auth.), Frederick Crescitelli (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
• Year: 1977
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 816
• Series: Handbook of Sensory Physiology 7 / 5 : Autrum,H.(Eds):Hdbk Sens.Physiology Vol 7
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The vertebrate eye has been, and continues to be, an object of interest and of inquiry for biologists, physicists, chemists, psychologists, and others. Quite apart from its important role in the development of ophthalmology and related medical disciplines, the vertebrate eye is an exemplar of the ingenuity of living systems in adapting to the diverse and changing environments in which vertebrates have evolved. The wonder is not so much that the visual system, like other body systems, has been able to adapt in this way, but rather that these adaptations have taken such a variety of forms. In a previous volume in this series (VII/I) Eakin expressed admiration for the diversity of invertebrate photoreceptors. A comparable situation exists for the vertebrate eye as a whole and one object of this volume is to present to the reader the nature of this diversity. One result of this diversification of ocular structures and properties is that the experimental biologist has available a number of systems for study that are unique or especially favorable for the investigation of particular questions in visual science or neurobiology. This volume includes some examples of progress made by the use of such specially selected vertebrate systems. It is our hope that this comparative approach will continue to reveal new and useful preparations for the examination of important questions.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages I-XI
The History of the Vertebrates....Pages 1-45
The Cyclostome Retina....Pages 47-66
Adaptations to the Deep-Sea Environment....Pages 67-192
Evolutionary Adaptations of Fishes to the Photic Environment....Pages 193-274
The Visual World of the Amphibia....Pages 275-307
The Amphibian Eye: Development and Regeneration....Pages 309-390
The Visual Pigments of Geckos and other Vertebrates: An Essay in Comparative Biology....Pages 391-449
Vision in Turtles....Pages 451-495
Adaptive Radiation of the Pineal System....Pages 497-548
The Avian Eye and its Adaptations....Pages 549-611
The Topography of Vision in Mammals of Contrasting Life Style: Comparative Optics and Retinal Organisation....Pages 613-756
Back Matter....Pages 757-813

✦ Subjects

Neurology; Neurosciences