The mammalian visual cortex harbors a number of functional
maps that represent distinct attributes of stimuli in the
visual environment. How different functional maps are accommodated
within the same cortical space, especially in species that
show marked irregularities in one or more functional maps,
remains poorly understood. We used optical imaging of intrinsic
signals and electrophysiological techniques to investigate
the organization of the maps of orientation preference,
ocular dominance, and visual space in ferret. This species
shows striking nonuniformity in the arrangement of ocular
dominance domains and disruption of the mapping of visual
space along the V1/V2 border. We asked whether these irregularities
would be reflected in the organization of the map of orientation
preference. The results show that orientation preference
is mapped consistently within both V1 and V2, and across
the interareal boundary, with no reflection of the irregularities
in the other maps. These observations demonstrate the accommodation
of multiple functional maps within the same cortical space
without systematic geometrical relationships that necessarily
constrain the organization of each representation. Furthermore,
they imply that the structure of the map of orientation
preference reflects the architecture and activity patterns
of cortical circuits that are independent of other columnar
systems established in layer 4.