The Diversity of Eyes and Vision
(2021) In Annual Review of Vision Science 7. p.19-41- Abstract
Every aspect of vision, from the opsin proteins to the eyes and the ways that they serve animal behavior, is incredibly diverse. It is only with an evolutionary perspective that this diversity can be understood and fully appreciated. In this review, I describe and explain the diversity at each level and try to convey an understanding of how the origin of the first opsin some 800 million years ago could initiate the avalanche that produced the astonishing diversity of eyes and vision that we see today. Despite the diversity, many types of photoreceptors, eyes, and visual roles have evolved multiple times independently in different animals, revealing a pattern of eye evolution strictly guided by functional constraints and driven by the... (More)
Every aspect of vision, from the opsin proteins to the eyes and the ways that they serve animal behavior, is incredibly diverse. It is only with an evolutionary perspective that this diversity can be understood and fully appreciated. In this review, I describe and explain the diversity at each level and try to convey an understanding of how the origin of the first opsin some 800 million years ago could initiate the avalanche that produced the astonishing diversity of eyes and vision that we see today. Despite the diversity, many types of photoreceptors, eyes, and visual roles have evolved multiple times independently in different animals, revealing a pattern of eye evolution strictly guided by functional constraints and driven by the evolution of gradually more demanding behaviors. I conclude the review by introducing a novel distinction between active and passive vision that points to uncharted territories in vision research.
(Less)
- author
- Nilsson, Dan E. LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- evolution, eyes, Photoreceptors, visual tasks
- in
- Annual Review of Vision Science
- volume
- 7
- pages
- 23 pages
- publisher
- Annual Reviews
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:34086478
- scopus:85115155454
- ISSN
- 2374-4642
- DOI
- 10.1146/annurev-vision-121820-074736
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 50ceb7ee-f21e-499d-a0ff-63307d1219f7
- date added to LUP
- 2021-10-01 12:50:36
- date last changed
- 2024-05-05 12:02:41
@article{50ceb7ee-f21e-499d-a0ff-63307d1219f7,
abstract = {{<p>Every aspect of vision, from the opsin proteins to the eyes and the ways that they serve animal behavior, is incredibly diverse. It is only with an evolutionary perspective that this diversity can be understood and fully appreciated. In this review, I describe and explain the diversity at each level and try to convey an understanding of how the origin of the first opsin some 800 million years ago could initiate the avalanche that produced the astonishing diversity of eyes and vision that we see today. Despite the diversity, many types of photoreceptors, eyes, and visual roles have evolved multiple times independently in different animals, revealing a pattern of eye evolution strictly guided by functional constraints and driven by the evolution of gradually more demanding behaviors. I conclude the review by introducing a novel distinction between active and passive vision that points to uncharted territories in vision research. </p>}},
author = {{Nilsson, Dan E.}},
issn = {{2374-4642}},
keywords = {{evolution; eyes; Photoreceptors; visual tasks}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{19--41}},
publisher = {{Annual Reviews}},
series = {{Annual Review of Vision Science}},
title = {{The Diversity of Eyes and Vision}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-vision-121820-074736}},
doi = {{10.1146/annurev-vision-121820-074736}},
volume = {{7}},
year = {{2021}},
}