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Chickens ‘One-Up’ Humans in Ability to See Color

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have peered deep into the eye of the chicken and found a masterpiece of biological design.

Scientists mapped five types of light receptors in the chicken’s eye. They discovered the receptors were laid out in interwoven mosaics that maximized the chicken’s ability to see many colors in any given part of the retina, the light-sensing structure at the back of the eye.

“Based on this analysis, birds have clearly one-upped us in several ways in terms of color vision,” says Joseph C. Corbo, M.D., Ph.D., senior author and assistant professor of pathology and immunology and of genetics. “Color receptor organization in the chicken retina greatly exceeds that seen in most other retinas and certainly that in most mammalian retinas.”

Corbo plans follow-up studies of how this organization is established. He says such insights could eventually help scientists seeking to use stem cells and other new techniques to treat the nearly 200 genetic disorders that can cause various forms of blindness.

Scientists published their results in the journal PLoS One.

Birds likely owe their superior color vision to not having spent a period of evolutionary history in the dark, according to Corbo. Birds, reptiles and mammals are all descended from a common ancestor, but during the age of the dinosaurs, most mammals became nocturnal for millions of years.

Vision comes from light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina. Night-vision relies on receptors called rods, which flourished in the mammalian eye during the time of the dinosaurs. Daytime vision relies on different receptors, known as cones, that are less advantageous when an organism is most active at night.

Birds, now widely believed to be descendants of dinosaurs, never spent a similar period living mostly in darkness. As a result, birds have more types of cones than mammals.

“The human retina has cones sensitive to red, blue and green wavelengths,” Corbo explains. “Avian retinas also have a cone that can detect violet wavelengths, including some ultraviolet, and a specialized receptor called a double cone that we believe helps them detect motion.”

In addition, most avian cones have a specialized structure that Corbo compares to “cellular sunglasses”: a lens-like drop of oil within the cone that is pigmented to filter out all but a particular range of light. Researchers used these drops to map the location of the different types of cones on the chicken retina. They found that the different types of cones were evenly distributed throughout the retina, but two cones of the same type were never located next to each other.

“This is the ideal way to uniformly sample the color space of your field of vision,” Corbo says. “It appears to be a global pattern created from a simple localized rule: you can be next to other cones, but not next to the same kind of cone.”

Corbo speculates that extra sensitivity to color may help birds in finding mates, which often involves colorful plumage, or when feeding on berries or other colorful fruit.

“Many of the inherited conditions that cause blindness in humans affect cones and rods, and it will be interesting to see if what we learn of the organization of the chicken’s retina will help us better understand and repair such problems in the human eye,” Corbo says.

Funding from the National Eye Institute supported this research.

Short URL: http://chandadavis.net/?p=1959

79 Comments for “Chickens ‘One-Up’ Humans in Ability to See Color”

  1. 1 Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have looked at chicken’s eyes and found an interesting discovery.
    2 Birds probably owe their great color vision by not having spent a period of evolutionary history in the dark.
    3 Scientists have found five tyes of receptors in the eye of a chicken.
    4 Birds are desendants of dinosaurs.
    5 The light sensing structure is in the back of the eye.

  2. Andrew Patterson

    theyre have been many discoveries about chicken.

  3. Caroline Whorton 6th period

    1. Researchers found a desighn in the chicken eye.
    2. In the retina, chickens can see many colors.
    3. Birds can see color because they do not spend any time in the dark.
    4. Animals can become noctural for a lot of years.
    5. Conitions in human blindness, can also can affect cones and rods.

  4. Amanda Baer-Peckham 4th period

    Chicken’s eyes have five different types of light receptors. Color receptors organization in the chicken retina exceeds most other retinas. Such insights could eventually be used to treat 200 genetic disorders that cause blindness. Birds owe their excellent color vision to not having to live in the dark for a certain period in time. Reptiles, mammals, and Birds are all descendents from a common ancestor, but during the age of the dinosaurs most animals were nocturnal. Now we believe that birds are decedents of dinosaurs.

  5. brett stoddard 5th period

    1).Researchers at Washington University of medicine is studying in the eye of a chicken.
    2).Scientists marked the five types of light receptors in the chicken’s eye.
    3).They discovered were the receptors laid.
    4).Night-vision relies on receptors called rods.
    5).The reseach was funded from the National Eye Institute

  6. Allison Dreisewerd - 4th

    1. Birds have better vision when it comes to color compared to humans. 2. Researcher have peered deep into the chickens eyes. 3. They found a masterpiece of biological design. 4. The human retina is sensitive to red, green, and blue.
    5. Scientist have published their results.

  7. Drake Horner 1st

    1).Vision comes from photorecepters in the retina.
    2)Birds have super color vision.
    3)The human retina is sensitive to green,red, and blue
    4)Birds have better color vision than humans do.
    5)Vision comes from light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina

  8. Andrew Patterson

    Chickens are good to eat.

  9. Cassidy McCarter-4th

    1.Researchers have peered deep into the eye of the chicken and found a masterpiece of biological design.
    2.Scientists mapped five types of light receptors in the chicken’s eye.
    3.The scientists discovered the receptors were laid out in interwoven mosaics that maximized the chicken’s ability to see many colors.
    4.“Based on this analysis, birds have clearly one-upped us in several ways in terms of color vision,” says Joseph C. Corbo
    5.Birds likely owe their superior color vision to not having spent a period of evolutionary history in the dark, according to Corbo

  10. derrellpatton1stperiod

    1. Researchers looked deep into a chickens eye and found a masterpiece of biological design.

    2. Scientists mapped five kinds of light receptors in the chickens eye.

    3. Receptors are put out in interwoven mosaics in a chickens eye.

    4. Birds have better color vision than humans do.

    5. Birds, reptiles, and mammals are all descended from a common ancestor.

  11. 1.Birds have super color vision.
    2.Eyesight helps birds find mates or food.
    3.Our retina is attracted to red blue and green.
    4.birds have better eyes sight for color that humans.
    5.Birds are desendants of dinosaurs.

  12. 1. researchers at wusm have looked into a chikens eye and have found an interesting disovery.

    2. chickens can see better than humans

    3.scientist have mapped five types of light receptors

    4. birds likely owe their superiiior color vision too not having spent a period of evelotion history in the dark

  13. 1. Birds have super color vision.
    2. Scientist have published their results.
    3. They found a masterpiece of biological design.
    4. The human retina is sensitive t red,green,and blue.
    5. vision comes from light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina.

  14. hunter walker-1

    1. Birds have more color vision than humans.
    2. Night-vision relies on receptors called rods.
    3. Birds are descendents of dinosaurs.
    4. Scientsts looked into the eye of the chicken.
    5. The bird retina is sensitive to red,green,and blue.

  15. Devin Platts 1st

    1.scientists mapped 5 light recepters in a chicken’s eye.
    2.The recepters maximized the chicken’s ability to see many colors in the retina.
    3.Vision comes from photorecepters in the retina.
    4.Birds have super color vision.
    5.The human retina is sensitive to green,red, and blue

  16. Andrew Patterson

    chickens are cowards.

  17. joshua sanchez-6

    1.Students at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied this.
    2. Scientists mapped 5 types of light receptors in the chickens eye.
    3. Birds have clearly one-uped us in color vision.
    4. The light senceing structure in in the back of the eye.
    5. Scientists published their results in the journal PLoS One.

  18. austin xayavong 5th

    1.St. Louis have peered deep into the eye of the chicken and found a masterpiece of biological design.
    2.Chickens can see better color vison then people.
    3.Scientists marked the five types of light receptors in the chicken’s eye.
    4.They discovered the receptors were laid out in interwoven mosaics that maximized the chicken’s ability to see many colors in any given part of the retina, the light-sensing structure at the back of the eye.
    5.The human retania can see red blue and green.

  19. 1.Researchers at Washington University have peered deep into the eye of the chicken and found a masterpiece of biological design.
    2. Scientists mapped five kinds of light receptors in the chickens eye.
    3. They found a masterpiece of biological design
    4.“Based on this analysis, birds have clearly one-upped us in several ways in terms of color vision,” says Joseph C. Corbo
    5. The light sensing structure is in the back of the eye.

  20. Will Cook 4th Period

    1- birds have super color vision
    2- scientists mapped 5 different kinds of light receptors in the chickens eye
    3- chickens can see better than humans
    4- night vision relies on receptors called ‘rods’
    5- research was fnded from the national eye institute

  21. mauhaun taheri 1

    1. There are 5 types of light receptors in the chicken eye.
    2.Birds have super color vision.
    3.The eyesight helps bird find food.
    4.They found a masterpiece of biological design.
    5. Birds are decedents of dinosaurs.

  22. 1. Researchers have peered deep into the eye of the chicken and found a masterpiece of biological design.
    2. Scientists have found five different light receptors in the chicken’s eye.
    3. These light receptors have abled the chicken to see many different colors in the retina.
    4. Vision comes from light-sensitive cells in the retina.
    5. Based on the analysis birds have one-uped us when in comes to vision.

  23. hunter walker-1

    1. The vision comes from light cells in the retina.
    2. Birds have better color vision than humans.
    3. Based on the analysis birds have one-uped us when in comes to vision.
    4. Eyesight helps birds find mates or food.
    5. Scientists mapped 5 light recepters in a chicken’s eye.

  24. Celia Farrell 1st Period

    1. Scientists decided t look deeper in chickens’ eye’s.

    2. There are 5 types of light receptors in a chickens eye.

    3. Bird’s are decendants of dinosaur’s.

    4. Vision comes from light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina.

    5. The human retina is sensitive to red,green, & blue.

  25. austin xayavong 5th

    1.The super vision helps birds find mates and stuff.
    2.Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have looked at chicken’s eyes and found an interesting discovery.
    3.Birds likely owe their superior color vision to not having spent a period of evolutionary history in the dark, according to Corbo.
    4.They have seen a masterpeice of design.
    5.Scientists published their results in the journal PLoS One.

  26. 1.They discovered the receptors were laid out in interwoven mosaics that maximized the chicken’s ability to see many colors in any given part of the retina.
    2.Birds, now widely believed to be descendants of dinosaurs, never spent a similar period living mostly in darkness. As a result, birds have more types of cones than mammals.
    3.Most avian cones have a specialized structure that Corbo compares to “cellular sunglasses.
    4.Corbo speculates that extra sensitivity to color may help birds in finding mates, which often involves colorful plumage, or when feeding on berries or other colorful fruit.
    5.Many of the inherited conditions that cause blindness in humans affect cones and rods.

  27. Jenna Marshall 1st period

    ~Researchers have found a biological masterpeice in the eye of a chicken.

    ~Birds have ‘one-upped’ us in the terms of color vision.

    ~Vision comes from light-sensitive cells in the retina.

    ~Night vision relies on recepters that are called ‘rods.’

    ~Day-vision relies on other receptors know as ‘cones’.

  28. during the studying of a chivkens eye, researchers have found that they are made up of more complex light receptors. this eneables them to capture more color in their retina which makes them see better. Scientists have concluded that this is because birds were not nocturnal during the period of evolelution like other animals did. another reason for the chicken/bird’s vision is so enhanced is so that they can see the colorful plumage of other birds duriing mating season and so that they can see what color the berries or plants are that they are eating. humans have two ways that they can see: rods for night vision, which capture more light, and cones, which capture color in daylight. during their study, scientists found that the chickens had multiple cones to collect more color.

  29. 1.Scientists mapped out 5 different types of light receptors in the chickens eye.
    2.Vision comes from light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina.
    3.Color receptor organization in the chicken retina greatly exceeds that seen in most other retinas and certainly that in most mammalian retinas.
    4.Vision comes from light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina
    5.It is to believe that birds are descendants of dinosaurs.

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