Event Abstract Back to Event Mirrors of visual worlds - from mice to men. What retinal topographies may tell us about mammalian visual ecologies Peter Ahnelt1* 1 Medical University of Vienna, Department of Physiology, Austria The adult mammalian photoreceptor mosaic of mammals is relatively stable. Thus, its composition and topographic organization may reflect the distribution of vitally relevant and statistically dominant image content for downstream processing. While 5 photopigment classes were present in ancestral vertebrates, molecular genetics has confirmed a reduced set of merely 1 rod and 2 cone opsins in placental mammals (improved by gene duplication/polymorphism in primates). Still, a large range of rod/cone proportions and topographic variants of spectral cone sub-mosaics emerged for matching the radiation of mammalian groups into most ecological niches. A general trend towards elongated retinal topographies (visual streaks) is present in terrestrial open-habitat species. Recent studies on more than 20 ungulate species have revealed the plasticity of this streak-type design. Correlated with parameters such as body size and habitat structure, the streak is complemented by additional higher density regions. A foveo-concentric pattern, as is found most diurnal primates, is consistently associated with arboreal lifestyles and omni-directional weighting of perceptual space. Yet, (semi-) terrestrial baboons and mandrils too reveal a clear density rise along the horizontal meridian. In contrast, terrestrial homo still expresses largely iso-centric gradients, thus matching the patterns of (semi-) arboreal macaques. We suggest this conservative trait to be linked to the evolution of bipedality. Erect posture has not only elevated eye levels but also required to maintain visual control on the foreground. Obstructive snouts are compatible with proclined quadrupedal postures, while Homo erectus shows a co-evolutive trend of facial flattening, simultaneously gaining for super-vision of freed forelimbs. Comparison of visual field limits by virtual ray tracing confirms a downwards-shift of the human vertical range in comparison to chimpanzee and baboon. Conference: IBRO International Workshop 2010, Pécs, Hungary, 21 Jan - 23 Jan, 2010. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Vision: from the evolution of retinas to the evolution of ideas Citation: Ahnelt P (2010). Mirrors of visual worlds - from mice to men. What retinal topographies may tell us about mammalian visual ecologies. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: IBRO International Workshop 2010. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.10.00243 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 05 May 2010; Published Online: 05 May 2010. * Correspondence: Peter Ahnelt, Medical University of Vienna, Department of Physiology, Vienna, Austria, peter.ahnelt@meduniwien.ac.at Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Peter Ahnelt Google Peter Ahnelt Google Scholar Peter Ahnelt PubMed Peter Ahnelt Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.