Diversity in Primate External Eye Morphology: Previously Undescribed Traits and Their Potential Adaptive Value

Comparative examinations of external eye morphology in primates initially focused on communicative functions of the eye. Subsequent work has failed to find consistent associations between specific eye morphologies and communicative functions. In this article, we review the field of primate external...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSymmetry (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 1270
Main Authors Perea-García, Juan Olvido, Danel, Dariusz P., Monteiro, Antónia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2021
Subjects
Color
communication
external eye morphology
Hypotheses
Monkeys & apes
Morphology
photoprotection
photoregulation
Primates
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Summary:Comparative examinations of external eye morphology in primates initially focused on communicative functions of the eye. Subsequent work has failed to find consistent associations between specific eye morphologies and communicative functions. In this article, we review the field of primate external eye morphology and inspect publicly available and unpublished photographs. We identify and describe five commonly occurring traits that have not received attention so far. We cross-examined the clinical and psychological literature to propose potential adaptive functions. These potential adaptive functions include communicative functions, but also photoregulatory functions and photoprotective functions.
ISSN:2073-8994
2073-8994
DOI:10.3390/sym13071270