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Ocular lens morphology is influenced by ecology and metamorphosis in frogs and toads Project ID: 000448159 Public
42 Media · 42 Specimens · Managed by: Jeffrey Streicher

The shape and relative size of an ocular lens affects the focal length of the eye, with consequences for visual acuity and sensitivity. Lenses are typically spherical in aquatic animals with camera-type eyes and axially flattened in terrestrial species to facilitate vision in optical media with different refractive indices. Frogs and toads (Amphibia: Anura) are ecologically diverse, with many species shifting from aquatic to terrestrial ecologies during metamorphosis. We quantified lens shape and relative size using 177 microCT scans of 122 biphasic anuran species and tested for correlations with life stage, adult environment and habits, and adult activity period. Across broad phylogenetic diversity, tadpole lenses are more spherical than those of adults. Biphasic species with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults typically undergo ontogenetic changes in lens shape, whereas species that remain aquatic as adults tend to retain more spherical lenses after metamorphosis. Further, adult lens shape is influenced by adult habit; notably, fossorial adults tend to retain spherical lenses following metamorphosis. Finally, lens size relative to eye size is smaller in aquatic and semiaquatic species than other adult ecologies. Our study demonstrates how ecology shapes visual systems, and the power of non-invasive imaging of museum specimens for studying sensory evolution.

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  ID Part Object Taxonomy Type Date Added Publication Status  
000450504 NHMUK:ZOO:1897.2.8.6-9 Microhyla rubra Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
000450507 NHMUK:ZOO:1903.9.26.29-33 Microhyla rubra Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
000450510 head of tadpole NHMUK:ZOO:1903.9.26.39-43 Uperodon systoma Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
000450517 NHMUK:ZOO:1908.2.14.14-16 Schismaderma carens Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
000450520 NHMUK:ZOO:1940.1.15.3-6 Xenopus muelleri Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
000450524 head of adult NHMUK:ZOO:1940.4.7.45-52 Rhinella spinulosa Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
000450527 NHMUK:ZOO:1949.1.8.36-37 Xenopus laevis Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
000450530 NHMUK:ZOO:2002.1 Churamiti maridadi Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
000450540 NHMUK:ZOO:1994.711-717 Stephopaedes usambarae Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
000450551 NHMUK:ZOO:1968.642 Mertensophryne schmidti Volumetric Image Series 2022-07-18 Restricted Download  
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