Table 2.

Relations among life-history variables and retinohypothamic tract (RHT) projections to the ventral subparaventricular zone (vSPVZ) in mammals. Displayed are species name, circadian phase preference, RHT-to-vSPVZ projections, and whether the species can be classified as altricial or precocial at birth. The last column indicates, for those few species where data are available, whether the RHT-to-vSPVZ connection develops prenatally or postnatally.

Species	Circadian phase preference	RHT→vSPVZ connection?	Altricial/Precocial	RHT→vSPVZ development
Norway rat (R. norvegicus)	nocturnal	yes1,2	altricial	postnatal
Hamster (M. auratus)	nocturnal	yes2,3	altricial	postnatal
Mink (M. vison)	nocturnal	yes4	altricial	postnatal
Mouse (M. musculus)	nocturnal	yes5,6	altricial	?
Opossums (D. virginiana, M. domestica)	nocturnal	yes5	altricial	?
Nile grass rat (A. niloticus)	diurnal	no	intermediate	n/a
Human (H. sapien)	diurnal	no7	intermediate	n/a
Cebus monkey (C. apella)	diurnal	no8	intermediate	n/a
Ground squirrel (S. lateralis)	diurnal	no9	altricial	n/a
Four-striped grass mouse (R. pumilio)	diurnal	no10	intermediate	n/a
Sheep (O. aries)	diurnal	yes11	precocial	prenatal
Degu (O. degus)	diurnal	yes12	precocial	?
Guinea pig (C. porcellus)	unclear13,14,15	no5	precocial	n/a
Cat (F. cattus)	unclear16,17,18	no5	altricial	n/a

Superscripts indicate relevant citations, which are listed at the bottom of the table. ?, not known; n/a, not applicable.

¹Gooley et al. (2003);

²Speh and Moore (1993);

³Morin et al. (2003);

⁴Peytevin et al. (1997);

⁵Cassone et al. (1988);

⁶Hattar et al. (2006);

⁷Dai et al. (1998);

⁸Pinato et al. (2009);

⁹Smale et al. (1991);

¹⁰Schumann et al. (2006);

¹¹Torrealba et al. (1993);

¹²Goel et al. (1999);

¹³Jilge (1985);

¹⁴Tobler et al. (1993);

¹⁵Akita et al. (2001);

¹⁶Bowersox et al. (1984);

¹⁷Kuwabara et al. (1986);

¹⁸Tobler and Scherschlicht (1990)