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The postnatal development of the optic nerve of a reptile (Vipera aspis): a quantitative ultrastructural study

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Abstract

The number of axons in the optic nerve of the ovoviviparous reptile Vipera aspis was estimated from electron micrographs taken during the first 5 weeks of postnatal life. One to two days after birth, the optic nerve contains about 170,000 fibres, of which about 9% are myelinated. At the end of the fifth postnatal week, the number of optic fibres has fallen to about 100,000, of which about 42% are myelinated. This fibre loss continues after the fifth postnatal week, since in the adult viper the nerve contains about 60,000 fibres, of which 85% are myelinated; overall, about 65% of the optic nerve fibres present at birth disappear before the number of axons stabilises at the adult level. This study shows, for the first time, that the mode of development of the visual axons of reptiles is not that of anamniote vertebrates but similar to that of birds and mammals.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by an Accord de Cooperation Franco-Marocain, the CNRS (UMR 5166), MNHN (USM 0501), France, and by CRSNG/NSERC, Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Equipe de Neurobiologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech, Morocco

    M. Bennis & S. Ba M’hamed

  2. CNRS UMR 5166, MNHN USM 0501, Département Régulations, Développement et Diversité Moléculaire, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Bâtiment d’Anatomie Comparée, 55 rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France

    J. Repérant, R. Ward & B. Jay

  3. INSERM U616, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France

    J.-P. Rio

  4. Laboratoire de Neuropsychologie Expérimentale et Comparée, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada

    R. Ward

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Bennis, M., Repérant, J., Ward, R. et al. The postnatal development of the optic nerve of a reptile (Vipera aspis): a quantitative ultrastructural study. Anat Embryol 211, 691–705 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-006-0135-8

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