Tapetum lucidum
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The tapetum lucidum (Latin: "bright carpet") is a reflecting layer immediately behind, and sometimes within, the retina of the eye of many vertebrates that serves to reflect light back to the retina, increasing the quantity of light caught by the retina. This improves vision in low light conditions, but can cause the perceived image to be blurry from the interference of the reflected light. It is therefore primarily found in nocturnal animals with good night vision, such as cats, bottlenose dolphins, dogs, and deer.
The reflective effect of the tapetum lucidum is often called eyeshine.
The tapetum lucidum is not present in the human eye, which is why humans have poor night vision. The red-eye effect in humans is due to the light from the camera flash reflecting off of the back of the eye in an instant (the retina, not a tapetum lucidum layer). In flash photographs, the eyes frequently appear to be glowing in one of a wide variety of colors including blue, green, yellow and pink.
The tapetum works roughly on the interference principles of thin-film optics, as seen in other reflective tissues such as butterfly wings (see Blue Morpho). However, different species have different types of structured tissue that lead to different mechanisms of reflective interference (Ollivier 2004). Known tapetum structures include:
- Retinal tapetum in teleosts, crocodiles, marsupials and fruit bats.
- Choroidal guanine tapetum in elasmobranchii.
- Choroidal tapetum cellulosum in carnivores, rodents and cetacea.
- Choroidal tapetum fibrosum in cows, sheep, goats and horses.
References
- Ollivier, F.J. et al. "Comparative morphology of the tapetum lucidum (among selected species)", Veterinary Ophthalmology 2004 Jan–Feb;7(1):11–22. PMID: 14738502.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/k1t44v5003v6hhm3/
Sensory system - Visual system - Eye | |
|---|---|
| Fibrous tunic (outer) | Conjunctiva • Sclera • Schlemm's canal • Trabecular meshwork • Limbus Cornea (Epithelium, Bowman's, Stroma, Descemet's, Endothelium) |
| Uvea (middle) | Choroid (Ciliary processes, Choriocapillaris, Bruch's membrane) • Iris (Stroma) • Pupil • Ciliary body |
| Retina (inner) | Macula • Fovea • Optic disc |
| Anterior segment | Anterior chamber • Aqueous humour • Posterior chamber • Lens |
| Posterior segment | Vitreous humour • Zonule of Zinn |
| Intraocular muscles | parasympathetic (Ciliary muscle, Iris sphincter muscle) • sympathetic (Iris dilator muscle) |
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
