On the cover: The anole lizard, like other reptiles including birds, relies on seven distinct photoreceptor types for vision: rods, four “ancestral” single cones (sensitive to red, green, blue, and ultraviolet), and two members of the so-called tetrapod double cone. Through comparative single-cell transcriptomics, Tommasini et al. trace the evolutionary origins of these cell types. Alongside the results from a parallel study by Liu et al., their findings support the orthology of single cones across vertebrates and shed new light on the mysterious evolutionary origins of double cones. Photo credit: ByChelo (pexels.com).
See also the dispatch by Almut Kelber
Tommasini D§, Yoshimatsu T§, Puthussery T§, Baden T§, Shekhar K§. Comparative transcriptomic insights into the evolution of vertebrate photoreceptor types. Current Biology 35:1-12. direct link. pdf.
