Table 1: The advantages of different animal models of retinal degeneration.
| Animal model | Advantages | |
| Invertebrates | Fruit fly | Cheap Small Short life cycle Fast breeding |
| Vertebrates | Zebrafish | Cheap Short life cycle |
| Chicken | Large population of cone receptors | |
| Dogs | Similar mammalian pattern of the retinal cell layers | |
| Cats | Similar mammalian pattern of the retinal cell layers | |
| Mice | Ease of care Large variety of disease models Short life span Similarities to human in terms of genetics and physiology |
|
| Pigs | Similar to the human eyes in terms of size, retinal structure and distribution of photoreceptors | |