A new online archive of more than 770 retinal topography maps covering 160 species has been launched by University of Queensland researchers.
Created by Professor Shaun Collin, from UQ’s School of Biomedical Sciences, the database is the first to bring together previously published retinal topography maps from around the globe.
Professor Collin said the database is a step forward in the evolutionary and ecological study of the visual system of a large range of vertebrates.
“The distribution and density of retinal neurons is a powerful means of defining the way that a species interacts and adapts its physiology with the surrounding environment,” Professor Collin said.
“The examination of retinal topography can give researchers an insight into the environmental conditions of a particular species, such as the levels of available light, the complexity of the natural environment, the spatial resolving power of the eye and therefore the size and mobility of potential prey, and ways in which the eye scans for predators”.
“Bringing together these previously published maps into a single and searchable database will allow neuroscientists, visual ecologists and students from around the globe to access these maps for their own study and discussion.”
The online database is the result of nearly three years of research and compilation by Professor Collin and his team.
Sourced from libraries and universities around the globe, and the Professor’s own collection, each of the maps in the database shows a whole mounted retina with orientation axes, a scale and the density of various retinal cells.
Professor Collin has also invited the publication of new maps in the database with both published and unpublished retinal topography maps able to be submitted online to the database by the publisher or copyright holder.
The Database of Retinal Topography Maps can be accessed at http://www.optometrists.asn.au/ceo/retinalsearch
Professor Collin’s paper, A web-based archive for topographic maps of retinal cell distribution in vertebrates, as published in Clinical and Experimental Optometry is available online at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1444-0938.2007.00228.x
Media inquiries: Professor Shaun Collin (07 3365 4066).
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