Some morphological features of a visual thalamic nucleus in a reptile: observations on nucleus rotundus in Caiman crocodilus.

The morphology of nucleus rotundus, a visual thalamic nucleus, was investigated in one species of reptiles. Caiman crocodilus, using Nisst stained material in transverse, sagittal, and horizontal planes. The topographical location of nucleus rotundus and its relationship to surrounding thalamic nuclear groups are described. Nucleus rotundus in Caiman can be subdivided into three areas: (1) an outer shell; (2) an inner core; and (3) a cell poor zone located between the shell and core. Most rotundal core neurons were round, fusiform, triangular, pear-shaped, or elliptical. Core neurons were not distributed evenly throughout the nucleus but, in many instances, were arranged in clusters composed of two to ten neurons. Quantitative measurements of area, perimeter, and eccentricity (greatest width/greatest length), which served as an index of cell roundness, were made on rotundal core neuron profiles in transverse, sagittal, and horizontal planes of section. Qualitative and quantitative observations were not appreciably different regardless of the plane of orientation. Both qualitative and quantitative data suggest that relay cells located in the core of nucleus rotundus are not a homogeneous population of neurons but comprise several subtypes.