Figure 1.

Morphological characteristics of the eye of the Iberian mole. The eyes of the Iberian mole are largely hidden in the fur (A) and permanently closed due to the absence of eyelids (B). The cornea is transparent and the iris has numerous bulges (C). Haematoxylin and eosin staining of wax sections showed that the eye had the main structures and looked functional (D) but undeveloped due to the presence of nuclei in the disorganised lens fibres (E). The mole lens exhibited some transparency and had no acute cataracts (F). Wild-type mouse eye (G) and lens (H) are shown as a model of normal mammalian eye phenotype. Scale bar represents 7 mm in A, 1.5 mm in B, 800 μm in C and D, 170 μm in E, 400 μm in F, and 2 mm in G and H.