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Recent Comments
I'm afraid I can claim no expertise in either genomics or bat vision, but I have been reading about ocean deoxygenation, including the possible problem for marine life insofar as the high energy demand of visual photoreceptors might lead to reduced vision or blindness as less oxygen becomes available in warming waters. When you say "Thus, our results support vision as a highly evolvable hotspot in vertebrates, and this evolvability allows the system to rapidly adapt to changing ecological demands (or lack thereof)," do you think this might offer some hope in regard to that scenario?
There is a vibrant literature on the evolution of vision loss in fish (e.g., in caves), and part of the reason color vision has been proposed to be an evolutionary hotspot. However, I am unaware of such response to reduced oxygen availability, or if the energy constraints are such that color vision loss would make a difference. Best course of action is to dive into that literature!