ReviewJournal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology2004
Vision in the dimmest habitats on earth.
Review in Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed.
- The visual system of a nocturnal long-distance migrant, the Australian Bogong moth.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Article
- Review
- Cranial anatomy, palaeoneurology, palaeobiology and stratigraphic age of the large-bodied ornithopod,PeerJ · 2026Article
- A complete spatial map of mouse retinal ganglion cells reveals density and gene expression specializations.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Structuring the skies: Diel dynamics of migratory animal movement in the lower atmosphere.Ecology · 2025Article
- Unraveling the Compound Eye Design of the Diurnal MothInsects · 2025Article
- Multiple Pathways of Visual Adaptations for Water Column Usage in an Antarctic Adaptive Radiation.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Redefining the photic zone: beyond the autotroph-centric view of light in the ocean.Communications earth & environment · 2025Review
- Genome assembly of a nocturnal butterfly (Macrosoma leucophasiata) reveals convergent adaptation of visual genes.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Comparison of anatomical visual features of the eyeball, lens, and retina the diurnal common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus rupicilaeformis) and the nocturnal little owl (Athene noctua glaux).BMC veterinary research · 2024Article
- Impact of the annular solar eclipse on December 26, 2019 on the foraging visits of bees.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Selection drives divergence of eye morphology in sympatric Heliconius butterflies.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2024Article
- A formative journal for a formative career: a personal recollection of how JCPA has inspired and guided my research life.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2024Article
- Light pollution of freshwater ecosystems: principles, ecological impacts and remedies.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Review
- A framework for untangling the consequences of artificial light at night on species interactions.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Review
- Quantifying visual acuity inBiology letters · 2023Article
- Chemical communication and its role in sexual selection across Animalia.Communications biology · 2023Review
- Cortical adaptation of the night monkey to a nocturnal niche environment: a comparative non-invasive T1w/T2w myelin study.Brain structure & function · 2023Article
- Developing and adult reef fish show rapid light-induced plasticity in their visual system.Molecular ecology · 2023Article
- The mitochondrial genome of the bioluminescent fishZooKeys · 2023Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A very large proportion of the world's animal species are active in dim light, either under the cover of night or in the depths of the sea. The worlds they see can be dim and extended, with light reaching the eyes from all directions at once, or they can be composed of bright point sources, like the multitudes of stars seen in a clear night sky or the rare sparks of bioluminescence that are visible in the deep sea. The eye designs of nocturnal and deep-sea animals have evolved in response to these two very different types of habitats, being optimised for maximum sensitivity to extended scenes, or to point sources, or to both. After describing the many visual adaptations that have evolved across the animal kingdom for maximising sensitivity to extended and point-source scenes, I then use case studies from the recent literature to show how these adaptations have endowed nocturnal animals with excellent vision. Nocturnal animals can see colour and negotiate dimly illuminated obstacles during flight. They can also navigate using learned terrestrial landmarks, the constellations of stars or the dim pattern of polarised light formed around the moon. The conclusion from these studies is clear: nocturnal habitats are just as rich in visual details as diurnal habitats are, and nocturnal animals have evolved visual systems capable of exploiting them. The same is certainly true of deep-sea animals, as future research will no doubt reveal.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.