Metamorphosis of the amphibian eye

Abstract

For many metamorphosing amphibians, the visual system must remain functional as the animal changes from an aquatic to a terrestrial habitat. Thyroid hormone, the trigger for metamorphosis, brings about changes at all levels of the animal, and profoundly alters the visual system, from cellular changes within the eye to new central connections subserving the binocular vision that develops during metamorphosis in some species. I will survey the alterations in the visual system in the metamorphosis of several Amphibian groups, and consider the role of thyroid hormone in bringing about these transformations through action at the molecular level.