Rhodopsin transgenes driven by rhodopsin promoters were produced, some attached to GFP coding sequences as a fusion construct. When the resulting transgenes were introduced into Xenopus laevis, the photoreceptors degenerated in a manner similar to the degeneration observed in human retinal degenerations. Lines of animals with these transgenes were generated, and the progeny of such lines undergo similar patterns of degeneration. Since photoreceptors in these generated lines are marked by the expression of visible reporter proteins, and these reporters are visible and quantifiable externally through the lens of live animals, these lines may be used in the screening of therapeutics that prevent or slow photoreceptor degeneration.