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Changes in optical properties of the eye during metamorphosis of an anuran,Pelobates syriacus

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Summary

Change in optical anatomy of the eye of an anuran,Pelobates syriacus, was monitored during metamorphosis using a freeze-sectioning technique. Concurrent refractive state measurements in air and water were carried out by retinoscopy. The eye ofPelobates changes dramatically from a fish-like eye with a spherical lens in young tadpoles to a terrestrial apparatus with a markedly flattened lens in the juvenile. The gradual reduction in lens refractive power and the absence of corneal refraction in water means thatPelobates becomes extremely hyperopic during the long (20 weeks) metamorphic period when the eye is still in water. The large rostralward change in eye position during metamorphosis indicates that the terrestrial form is much more binocular.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Optometry and Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    J. G. Sivak

  2. Department of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 32000, Haifa, Israel

    M. R. Warburg

Authors
  1. J. G. Sivak
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  2. M. R. Warburg
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Sivak, J.G., Warburg, M.R. Changes in optical properties of the eye during metamorphosis of an anuran,Pelobates syriacus . J. Comp. Physiol. 150, 329–332 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605022

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605022

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