Electroreception in monotremes.

I will briefly review the history of the bill sense of the platypus, a sophisticated combination of electroreception and mechanoreception that coordinates information about aquatic prey provided from the bill skin mechanoreceptors and electroreceptors, and provide an evolutionary account of electroreception in the three extant species of monotreme (and what can be inferred of their ancestors). Electroreception in monotremes is compared and contrasted with the extensive body of work on electric fish, and an account of the central processing of mechanoreceptive and electroreceptive input in the somatosensory neocortex of the platypus, where sophisticated calculations seem to enable a complete three-dimensional fix on prey, is given.

[1]  D. Bodznick,et al.  Signals and noise in the elasmobranch electrosensory system , 1999, The Journal of experimental biology.

[2]  G. von der Emde,et al.  Active electrolocation of objects in weakly electric fish , 1999 .

[3]  V. Han,et al.  Synaptic plasticity in the mormyrid electrosensory lobe. , 1999, The Journal of experimental biology.

[4]  C. Hopkins,et al.  Design features for electric communication. , 1999, The Journal of experimental biology.

[5]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  Morphology of Pyramidal Neurones in Cytochrome Oxidase Modules of the S-I Bill Representation of the Platypus , 1999, Brain, Behavior and Evolution.

[6]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  The sensory world of the platypus. , 1998, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[7]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  Some related aspects of platypus electroreception: temporal integration behaviour, electroreceptive thresholds and directionality of the bill acting as an antenna. , 1998, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[8]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  Distribution and putative function of autonomic nerve fibres in the bill skin of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). , 1998, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[9]  M. Griffiths.  Preface to Platypus biology: recent advances and reviews. A Theme published by the Royal Society of London , 1998 .

[10]  A. Iggo,et al.  Sensory receptors in monotremes. , 1998, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[11]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  Monotremes and the evolution of rapid eye movement sleep. , 1998, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[12]  M. Archer,et al.  New information about the skull and dentary of the Miocene platypus Obdurodon dicksoni, and a discussion of ornithorhynchid relationships. , 1998, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[13]  M. Griffiths.  Platypus research 1798-1998. , 1998, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[14]  David F. Russell,et al.  The paddlefish rostrum functions as an electrosensory antenna in plankton feeding , 1997, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[15]  Masashi Kawasaki,et al.  Sensory hyperacuity in the jamming avoidance response of weakly electric fish , 1997, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[16]  A. Kalmijn,et al.  Electric and near-field acoustic detection, a comparative study. , 1997, Acta physiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[17]  Kalmijn Aj,et al.  Electric and near-field acoustic detection, a comparative study. , 1997 .

[18]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  Properties of electrosensory neurons in the cortex of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus): implications for processing of electrosensory stimuli , 1996, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[19]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  The Echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus Combines REM and Non-REM Aspects in a Single Sleep State: Implications for the Evolution of Sleep , 1996, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[20]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  Ultrastructure, number, distribution and innervation of electroreceptors and mechanoreceptors in the bill skin of the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus. , 1996, Brain, behavior and evolution.

[21]  R. McCarley,et al.  Time course of Fos-like immunoreactivity associated with cholinergically induced REM sleep , 1995, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[22]  John D. Pettigrew,et al.  Electroreception and the Feeding Behaviour of Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus: Monotremata: Mammalia) , 1995 .

[23]  Whittington Rj.  The survival of platypuses in captivity , 1991 .

[24]  R. Whittington.  The survival of platypuses in captivity. , 1991, Australian Veterinary Journal.

[25]  A. Iggo,et al.  Responses of electroreceptors in the snout of the echidna. , 1989, The Journal of physiology.

[26]  U Proske,et al.  Receptors in the bill of the platypus. , 1988, The Journal of physiology.

[27]  G. Langner,et al.  Electroreceptive cortex of platypus marked by 2-deoxyglucose , 1986 .

[28]  G. Langner,et al.  Electroreception and electrolocation in platypus , 1986, Nature.

[29]  G. Wald,et al.  Vision in Annelid Worms , 1977, Science.

[30]  E. Home.  IV. A Description of the anatomy of the ornithorhynchus paradoxus , 1802, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.