macula The macula (/ˈmakjʊlə/) or macula lutea is an oval-shaped pigmented area in the center of the retina of the human eye and in other animals. The macula in humans has a diameter of around and is subdivided into the umbo, foveola, foveal avas ...

is a spot on the retina of the human eye. Macula may also refer to:

Science and medicine

* Macula (archaeology), a feature visible on an aerial photograph but with no identifiable function *

Macula (planetary geology) Macula (pl. maculae ) is the Latin word for 'spot'. It is used in planetary nomenclature to refer to unusually dark areas on the surface of a planet or moon. They are seen on the icy surfaces of Pluto, Jupiter's moon Europa, Saturn's moon Titan, ...

, a dark area on the surface of a planet or moon *

Macula of saccule The saccule is the smaller sized vestibular sac (the utricle being the other larger size vestibular sac); it is globular in form, and lies in the recessus sphæricus near the opening of the scala vestibuli of the cochlea. Its anterior part exhi ...

, in the human ear *

Macula of utricle The utricle and saccule are the two otolith organs in the vertebrate inner ear. The word utricle comes . The utricle and saccule are part of the balancing system (membranous labyrinth) in the vestibule of the bony labyrinth (small oval chamber). ...

, in the human ear * Macula adhaerens, a cell structure specialized for cell-to-cell adhesion *

Macula densa In the kidney, the macula densa is an area of closely packed specialized cells lining the wall of the distal tubule where it touches the glomerulus. Specifically, the macula densa is found in the terminal portion of the distal straight tubule ...

, a group of cells in the kidney that stain darker histologically

Species

* '' Astylopsis macula'', a beetle of family Cerambycidae * ''

Gibberula macula ''Gibberula macula'' is a species of very small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Cystiscidae. Description The length of the shell attains . Distribution This species occurs in the Caribbean Sea off Panama. ...

'', a sea snail of family Cystiscidae * '' Goniotorna macula'', a moth of family Tortricidae * '' Ortalotrypeta macula'', a fruit fly of family Tephritidae * '' Schrankia macula'', a moth of family Erebidae * ''

Ulotrichopus macula ''Ulotrichopus macula'' is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in the Indian Subregion, Taiwan, Thailand, Sundaland, Sulawesi and Seram Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku p ...

'', a moth of family Erebidae

Other uses

* Macula (footballer) (born 1968), Brazilian footballer * A

mortal sin A mortal sin (), in Christian theology, is a gravely sinful act which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. It is alternatively called deadly, grave, and serious; the concept of mortal sin is found in both ...

in Catholicism {{Disambiguation