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German-American research team finds daylight photoreceptors in the retinas of nocturnal fruit bats
The retinas of most mammals contain two types of photoreceptor cells, the cones for daylight vision and colour vision, and the more sensitive rods for night vision. Nocturnal bats were traditionally believed to possess only rods. Now scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and at The Field Museum for Natural History in Chicago have discovered that nocturnal fruit bats (flying foxes) possess cones in addition to rods. Hence, fruit bats are also equipped for daylight vision. The researchers conclude that cone photoreceptors might be useful for spotting predators and for social interactions at periods of roosting during the day. Flying foxes often use exposed treetops as daytime roosts, where they assemble in large colonies (Brain, Behavior and Evolution, online May 2007).
http://goto.mpg.de/mpg/news/20070612/
Roosting Rodrigue's fruit bat (Pteropus rodricensis), one of the studied species. Note the large fro ...
Dana LeBlanc, Lubee Bat Center, Gainesville, Florida
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