Hayes B, Martin G R, Brooke M de L
Department of Visual Science, Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK.
Brain Behav Evol. 1991;37(2):79-84. doi: 10.1159/000114348.
Procellariiforms are pelagic seabirds which fly close to the sea surface and feed either by taking items from the surface or by shallow diving. The retinal ganglion cells in five species (Manx shearwater, Puffinus puffinus, Kerguelen petrel, Pterodroma brevirostris, great shearwater, Puffinus gravis, broad-billed prion, Pachyptila vittata, and common diving petrel, Pelecanoides urinatrix) were examined by Nissl staining and also by silver staining in the case of the common diving petrel. In all five species, a well-defined region in the dorsotemporal retina, close to the ora, was identified. This region is characterized by the presence of ganglion cells which are both regularly arrayed and larger than those found in the rest of the retina. These cells also have a large dendritic field of sparsely branched dendrites with much dendritic overlap between cells, thick axons, and dendrites confined to the proximal inner plexiform layer. Morphologically, they appear similar to the alpha cells of the retina in cats. It is suggested that the region containing these cells should be regarded as a retinal area, and the name area giganto cellularis is proposed. In the Manx shearwater, it is found that this novel area projects visually into the binocular field below the bill. Unlike previously described areas in avian retinae, it seems that this novel area is not concerned with high spatial resolution. It may function in the detection of objects on the sea surface and/or be concerned with the detection of the actual sea surface as a bird flies low over it.
鹱形目鸟类是远洋海鸟，它们在靠近海面的高度飞行，通过从海面抓取食物或浅潜来觅食。对5个物种（马恩岛剪水鹱、普通剪水鹱、克尔格伦海燕、短嘴圆尾鹱、太平洋鹱、细纹圆尾鹱和普通潜鹱）的视网膜神经节细胞进行了尼氏染色检查，普通潜鹱还进行了银染色检查。在所有5个物种中，均在靠近视网膜锯齿缘的背颞侧视网膜中识别出一个界限分明的区域。该区域的特征是存在排列规则且比视网膜其他区域的神经节细胞更大的神经节细胞。这些细胞还具有一个大的树突野，树突稀疏分支，细胞间树突有大量重叠，轴突粗壮，树突局限于近端内网状层。从形态学上看，它们类似于猫视网膜中的α细胞。有人认为，包含这些细胞的区域应被视为一个视网膜区域，并提出了“巨细胞区”这一名称。在马恩岛剪水鹱中发现，这个新区域在视觉上投射到喙下方的双眼视野。与先前描述的鸟类视网膜区域不同，这个新区域似乎与高空间分辨率无关。它可能在检测海面物体时发挥作用，和/或在鸟类低空飞过海面时与检测实际海面有关。
