| Functional |
"The three opsins that characterize most mammals include a rod opsin (RH1) and two cone opsins, short wavelength-sensitive opsin (SWS1) and long wavelength-sensitive opsin (LWS). Rods mainly function in dim light conditions (scotopic/night vision) whereas cones require more light (photopic vision) and are necessary with color vision." |
10.1371/journal.pgen.1003432 |
| Mutation Description |
"Inactivating mutations (frameshift indels, premature stop codons, disrupted intron splice sites, amino acid replacement at the Schiff’s base counterion site) were apparent for all cetacean species in the SWS1 alignment (Table 1), but were lacking in SWS1 from the semiaquatic outgroup species, Hippopotamus amphibious (Figure 1)." |
10.1371/journal.pgen.1003432 |
| Methodology & Validation |
"Previously published RH1, SWS1, and LWS sequences for Cetacea were combined with new sequences that were generated through PCR and dideoxy sequencing." |
10.1371/journal.pgen.1003432 |
| Timing of Loss |
"Although the SWS1 genes of all cetacean species show evidence of mutational decay, no inactivating mutations map to the last common ancestral branch of Cetacea (Figure 1, node 26 to node 27)." |
10.1371/journal.pgen.1003432 |
| Phenotypic |
"The tandem inactivation of SWS1 and LWS in these taxa presumably renders them rod monochromats, a condition that was previously unknown within Mammalia." |
10.1371/journal.pgen.1003432 |