Sensory Ecology Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Avec la création de Celui qui tombe en 2014, l’artiste de cirque et danseur Yoann Bourgeois, accompagné de sa collaboratrice artistique la danseuse Marie Fonte, signent le manifeste performatif de l’acteur-vecteur. Un acteur invité à tanguer au gré de la gravité, autrement dit : à « devenir vecteur d’une force physique » (Fonte). Aux oreilles du praticien de Zhi Neng Qi Gong, une discipline énergétique chinoise contemporaine, de pareils questionnements font écho à la plus élémentaire, et sans doute à la plus complexe, des techniques : canaliser un flux énergétique.
L’objet de cet article sera d’interroger les enjeux pratiques, techniques et écologiques de ces régimes de perception et d’interaction avec les forces qui maillent et travaillent notre environnement. A travers l’étude des pratiques d’attention, d’équilibre et de conversation avec ces « courants d’air », nous tenterons de comprendre comment se développe un art de la composition des rapports, au sens de Deleuze, entre un performer et l’espace au travers duquel il évolue.

- by
- •
- Performing Arts, Sensory Ecology, Anthropology of the Body, Practice-led art research

The replacement of conventional lighting with energy-saving light emitting diodes (LED) is a worldwide trend, yet its consequences for animals and ecosystems are poorly understood. Strictly nocturnal animals such as bats are particularly sensitive to artificial light at night (ALAN). Past studies have shown that bats, in general, respond to ALAN according to the emitted light color and that migratory bats, in particular , exhibit phototaxis in response to green light. As red and white light is frequently used in outdoor lighting, we asked how migratory bats respond to these wavelength spectra. At a major migration corridor, we recorded the presence of migrating bats based on ultrasonic recorders during 10-min light-on/light-off intervals to red or warm-white LED, interspersed with dark controls. When the red LED was switched on, we observed an increase in flight activity for Pipistrellus pygmaeus and a trend for a higher activity for Pipistrellus nathusii. As the higher flight activity of bats was not associated with increased feeding, we rule out the possibility that bats foraged at the red LED light. Instead, bats may have flown toward the red LED light source. When exposed to warm-white LED, general flight activity at the light source did not increase, yet we observed an increased foraging activity directly at the light source compared to the dark control. Our findings highlight a response of migratory bats toward LED light that was dependent on light color. The most parsimonious explanation for the response to red LED is phototaxis and for the response to warm-white LED foraging. Our findings call for caution in the application of red aviation lighting, particularly at wind turbines, as this light color might attract bats, leading eventually to an increased collision risk of migratory bats at wind turbines.

- by Oliver Lindecke
- •
- Ethology, Sensory Ecology, Animal Behavior, Migration

Au sujet du projet "Entropic Now" et du film "Entropico" de Christophe Haleb (Cie La Zouze)

- by Martin Givors
- •
- Dance Studies, Sensory Ecology, Anthropology Of Dance, Videodance

Aims: The main aim of present study is to investigate the effect of luminance on identifying the Ishihara colour vision plates in normal trichromats. Place and Duration of Study: Dr. Rishi Bhardwaj Visual Psychophysics laboratory, School of Medical sciences, University of Hyderabad-INDIA, 1-year (07/2015 to 07/07/2016). Methodology: This experimental quantitative study design conducted with n=60 participants of age group 18 to 21 years both male & female genders and inclusion criteria was trichromats, emmetropes with no history of ocular pathology and randomized sampling was done to study the experiment in lab setting with three different illuminations (Compact fluorescent light-CFL), fluorescent light, LED light) with constant 400-lux is maintained for the experiment followed by colour vision assessment with Ishihara colour vision plates 38 th edition (printed) version. Followed by satisfactory and feedback of comfort was received by participants. Results: The relation between lighting and isochromatic colour vision plates response was not statistically significance (P=0.007) males & females (P=0.056). But the isochromatic plate identifying speed is faster (1-3 sec) under fluorescent lighting compare to CFL and LED, similarly Original Research Article Ram and Bharadwaj; OR, 7(1): 1-6, 2017; Article no.OR.33018 2 the distribution of symptoms related to colour vision was very less in fluorescent lighting (10-30%) followed by CFL (10-55%) and maximum (30 – 75%) under LED lighting, shown more symptomatic. Satisfactory feedback from sixty participants showed that 36 participants recommended (Fluorescent=63%) lighting was good while identifying ishihara colour vision plates followed by CFL and LED similarly, 12 recommended (CFL=20%) and 10 participants recommended (LED=17%). Conclusion: This experiment concludes that ishihara colour vision plates are a tool for red and green deficiency screening. But the luminance intensity and types of lighting play a vital role for discriminating the numerals that imbedded in isochromatic plates, fluorescent lighting showed better results and faster speed to recognize the isochromatic plates compare to CFL and LED luminance in trichromats.

- by SHIVA RAM REDDY
- •
- Botany, Entomology, Experimental Psychology, Sensory Ecology

The exploitation of polarized light may increase perceived visual contrast independent of spectrum and intensity and thus have adaptive value in forest habitats, where illumination varies greatly in brightness and spectral properties. Here we investigate the extent to which Costa Rican butterflies of the family Nymphalidae exhibit polarized wing reflectance and evaluate the types of habitats in which the trait is commonly found. We also examine the degree of polarized reflectance of wing patterns in representative species belonging to the nymphalid subfamilies Charaxinae, Heliconiinae, Morphinae and Nymphalinae. Polarized reflectance was evaluated using museum specimens illuminated with a light source that simulated the spectrum of ambient sunlight and viewed through a polarized filter. Of the 144 species examined, 75 species exhibited polarized reflectance patterns. These species were significantly more likely to occupy forest habitats than open habitats. A concentrated changes test performed on a phylogeny of the Nymphalidae, with the Papilionidae as an outgroup, provides further support for the correlated evolution of polarized iridescence and life in a forest light environment. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the production and detection of polarized light may have adaptive communicative value in those species inhabiting forest habitats with complex light conditions. The potential utility of polarized iridescence and iridescent wing coloration within differing ambient spectral environments is discussed to provide a basis for future investigation of the polarized light ecology of butterflies.

Much of the potential of sensory information for understanding primate feeding has been ignored because the subject is usually approached from a nutritional perspective rather than a sensory one. However, nutrients are abstract constructs of modern science, so how can we expect primates to know what they are? To argue that a foraging primate is avoiding fiber or searching for a particular nutrient class such as protein, we have to establish a sensory link to these abstract food components. This review synthesizes widely scattered information on the sensory ecology of primates and asks how the senses might convey information on food location, abundance, and quality. Primates receive a barrage of sensory inputs, which help them make efficient feeding decisions about food distributed in time and space. We do not treat these senses in a traditional manner, but divide them into those that receive input from outside the animal (external senses) and from inside the digestive system (internal senses). We treat less completely some areas that have been reviewed in past issues of Evolutionary Anthropology, such as color vision,1 taste,2 and food physics.3

- by Nathaniel J Dominy
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Animal Behavior and Sensory Ecology

Visually dominant animals use gaze adjustments to organize perceptual inputs for cognitive processing. Thereby they manage the massive sensory load from complex and noisy scenes. Echolocation, as an active sensory system, may provide more opportunities to control such information flow by adjusting the properties of the sound source. However, most studies of toothed whale echolocation have involved stationed animals in static auditory scenes for which dynamic information control is unnecessary. To mimic conditions in the wild, we designed an experiment with captive, free-swimming harbor porpoises tasked with discriminating between two hydrophone-equipped targets and closing in on the selected target; this allowed us to gain insight into how porpoises adjust their acoustic gaze in a multi-target dynamic scene. By means of synchronized cameras, an acoustic tag and on-target hydrophone recordings we demonstrate that porpoises employ both beam direction control and rangedependent changes in output levels and pulse intervals to accommodate their changing spatial relationship with objects of immediate interest. We further show that, when switching attention to another target, porpoises can set their depth of gaze accurately for the new target location. In combination, these observations imply that porpoises exert precise vocal-motor control that is tied to spatial perception akin to visual accommodation. Finally, we demonstrate that at short target ranges porpoises narrow their depth of gaze dramatically by adjusting their output so as to focus on a single target. This suggests that echolocating porpoises switch from a deliberative mode of sensorimotor operation to a reactive mode when they are close to a target.

- by Danuta Maria Wisniewska
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Marine Bioacoustics, Biosonar

As social animals, primates use signals to transmit information about social and sexual status to conspecifics. When these signals lead receivers to change their behavior, we can consider that communication between the individuals has occurred. Primates can produce and use four sensory modalities to communicate between conspecifics: acoustic, chemical, visual and tactile. The use of each modality depends on the social and physical environment, the receiver's sensory system and the context. In this review, the authors present behavioural evidence of each sensory modality used in socio-sexual contexts and compare this evidence for Old World and New World monkeys in an attempt to guide future studies on the evolution of communication.

- by Daniel Pessoa and +2
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Primatology, Reproductive Biology, Animal communication
- by Doris Gomez
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Animal communication, Visual Ecology

Although flight is regarded as a key behavior of birds this review argues that the perceptual demands for its control are met within constraints set by the perceptual demands of two other key tasks: the control of bill (or feet) position, and the detection of food items/predators. Control of bill position, or of the feet when used in foraging, and timing of their arrival at a target, are based upon information derived from the optic flow-field in the binocular region that encompasses the bill. Flow-fields use information extracted from close to the bird using vision of relatively low spatial resolution. The detection of food items and predators is based upon information detected at a greater distance and depends upon regions in the retina with relatively high spatial resolution. The tasks of detecting predators and of placing the bill (or feet) accurately, make contradictory demands upon vision and these have resulted in trade-offs in the form of visual fields and in the topography of retinal regions in which spatial resolution is enhanced, indicated by foveas, areas, and high ganglion cell densities. The informational function of binocular vision in birds does not lie in binocularity per se (i.e., two eyes receiving slightly different information simultaneously about the same objects) but in the contralateral projection of the visual field of each eye. This ensures that each eye receives information from a symmetrically expanding optic flow-field centered close to the direction of the bill, and from this the crucial information of direction of travel and time-to-contact can be extracted, almost instantaneously. Interspecific comparisons of visual fields between closely related species have shown that small differences in foraging techniques can give rise to different perceptual challenges and these have resulted in differences in visual fields even within the same genus. This suggests that vision is subject to continuing and relatively rapid natural selection based upon individual differences in the structure of the optical system, retinal topography, and eye position in the skull. From a sensory ecology perspective a bird is best characterized as " a bill guided by an eye " and that control of flight is achieved within constraints on visual capacity dictated primarily by the demands of foraging and bill control.

- by Graham Martin
- •
- Sensory Ecology

The complex evolution of primate color vision has puzzled biologists for decades. Primates are the only eutherian mammals that evolved an enhanced capacity for discriminating colors in the green–red part of the spectrum (trichromatism). However, while Old World primates present three types of cone pigments and are routinely trichromatic, most New World primates exhibit a color vision polymorphism, characterized by the occurrence of trichromatic and dichromatic females and obligatory dichromatic males. Even though this has stimulated a prolific line of inquiry, the selective forces and relative benefits influencing color vision evolution in primates are still under debate, with current explanations focusing almost exclusively at the advantages in finding food and detecting socio-sexual signals. Here, we evaluate a previously untested possibility, the adaptive value of primate color vision for predator detection. By combining color vision modeling data on New World and Old World primates, as well as behavioral information from human subjects, we demonstrate that primates exhibiting better color discrimination (trichromats) excel those displaying poorer color visions (dichromats) at detecting carnivoran predators against the green foliage background. The distribution of color vision found in extant anthropoid primates agrees with our results, and may be explained by the advantages of trichromats and dichromats in detecting predators and insects, respectively. Am. J. Primatol. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.The complex evolution of primate color vision has puzzled biologists for decades. Primates are the only eutherian mammals that evolved an enhanced capacity for discriminating colors in the green–red part of the spectrum (trichromatism). However, while Old World primates present three types of cone pigments and are routinely trichromatic, most New World primates exhibit a color vision polymorphism, characterized by the occurrence of trichromatic and dichromatic females and obligatory dichromatic males. Even though this has stimulated a prolific line of inquiry, the selective forces and relative benefits influencing color vision evolution in primates are still under debate, with current explanations focusing almost exclusively at the advantages in finding food and detecting socio-sexual signals. Here, we evaluate a previously untested possibility, the adaptive value of primate color vision for predator detection. By combining color vision modeling data on New World and Old World primates, as well as behavioral information from human subjects, we demonstrate that primates exhibiting better color discrimination (trichromats) excel those displaying poorer color visions (dichromats) at detecting carnivoran predators against the green foliage background. The distribution of color vision found in extant anthropoid primates agrees with our results, and may be explained by the advantages of trichromats and dichromats in detecting predators and insects, respectively. Am. J. Primatol. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

- by Daniel Pessoa
- •
- Behavioral Sciences, Sensory Ecology, Primatology, Predator-Prey Interactions
- by Kurt Schwenk
- •
- Herpetology, Sensory Ecology, Sensory Neuroscience, Conservation

In this article the problem of perception is highlighted from a philosophical, physiological and psychological point of view. The essay (second update) is followed by a list of publications, journals and websites about perception. The... more

- by Hans Kuijper
- •
- Computer Vision, Perception, Phonology, Sensory Ecology

Sensory anthropology has explored sensation as a fruitful but poorly examined domain of cross-cultural research. Curiously, sensory anthropologists have mostly ignored scientific research into sensation, even that which addresses cross-cultural variation. A comparative study in two Amazonian societies (Matsigenka, Yora [Nahua]) documented the role of the senses in medicinal plant therapy and benefited greatly from theoretical insights gleaned from sensory science. The study reveals a complex interweaving of cultural and ecological factors in medicinal plant selection, with sensation standing at the culture-nature nexus linking medical ideas with medical materials. By synthesizing (rather than antagonizing) scientific and anthropological insights, sensation can be understood as a biocultural phenomenon rooted in human physiology yet constructed through individual experience and culture. Overcoming the limitations of a narrowly defined sensory anthropology, sensory ecology is here proposed as a new theoretical perspective for addressing humanenvironment interactions mediated by the senses. [Keywords: ethnomedicine, materia medica, shamanism, sensory perception, Peru] Miracles keep their distance from bodily senses: Would a peacock stay in a ditch? -Rumi, Mathnawi

- by Glenn Shepard
- •
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology, Sensory Ecology, Ethnobotany

Synopsis Each year, billions of birds collide with large human-made structures, such as building, towers, and turbines, causing substantial mortality. Such bird-strike, which is projected to increase, poses risks to populations of birds and causes significant economic costs to many industries. Mitigation technologies have been deployed in an attempt to reduce bird-strike, but have been met with limited success. One reason for bird-strike may be that birds fail to pay adequate attention to the space directly in front of them when in level, cruising flight. A warning signal projected in front of a potential strike surface might attract visual attention and reduce the risks of collision. We tested this idea in captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) that were trained to fly down a long corridor and through an open wooden frame. Once birds were trained, they each experienced three treatments at unpredictable times and in a randomized order: a loud sound field projected immediately in front of the open wooden frame; a mist net (i.e., a benign strike surface) placed inside the wooden frame; and both the loud sound and the mist net. We found that birds slowed their flight approximately 20% more when the sound field was projected in front of the mist net compared with when the mist net was presented alone. This reduction in velocity would equate to a substantial reduction in the force of any collision. In addition to slowing down, birds increased the angle of attack of their body and tail, potentially allowing for more maneuverable flight. Concomitantly, the only cases where birds avoided the mist net occurred in the sound-augmented treatment. Interestingly, the sound field by itself did not demonstrably alter flight. Although our study was conducted in a limited setting, the alterations of flight associated with our sound field has implications for reducing bird-strike in nature and we encourage researchers to test our ideas in field trials.

- by John Swaddle
- •
- Acoustics, Sensory Ecology, Bird Strike Research, Wind Turbines

The inhabited environment is crucial to global challenges. Although the humanities enrich our understanding of how human beings adapt their environment, they are underrepresented in global development debates. As the availability of digital data and technology rapidly grows, the opportunities to directly relate humanities research to the social and environmental sciences improves. Notably, in tropical archaeology, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is causing a 'revolution' by revealing huge swaths of urban landscapes. This new data source and the perspectives it affords, are changing the role and relevance of (historical) humanities knowledge in relation to global development. The Digital Humanities (DH) and Geohumanities are emergent fields with increasing resources. They invite exploration of how to harness and nurture interdisciplinary and comparative contributions. By embracing new digital data sources, acquisition, and manipulation techniques, Digital Humanities have the potential to contextualise and inform how current developmental practice is shaping socio-cultural inhabitation of the landscape.

- by Benjamin Vis
- •
- Cultural History, Landscape Ecology, Human Ecology, Geography
- by Cristóbal Escobar
- •
- Visual Anthropology, Human-Animal Relations, Sensory Ecology, Animal Studies

Squid rely on multiple sensory systems for predator detection. In this study we examine the role of two sensory systems, the lateral line analogue and vision, in successful predator evasion throughout ontogeny. Squid Doryteuthis pealeii and Lolliguncula brevis were recorded using high-speed videography in the presence of natural predators under light and dark conditions with their lateral line analogue intact or ablated via a pharmacological technique. Paralarval squid showed reduced escape responses when ablated; however, no differences were found between light and dark conditions in non-ablated paralarvae, as was previously shown in juveniles and adults, indicating that the lateral line analogue is integral for predator detection early in life. However, vision does play a role in survival because ablated squid in dark conditions had lower levels of survival than all other treatments. Throughout ontogeny, squid oriented themselves anteriorly towards the oncoming predator, maximizing sensory input to the lateral line analogue system and providing better positioning for tail-first escape jetting, the preferred escape mode. Ablated juveniles and adults had lower response times, escape velocities and peak acceleration than non-ablated individuals, indicating that the lateral line analogue enables squid to respond quicker and with more powerful jets to a predator and maximize escape success. Our findings reveal that the lateral line analogue plays a role in predator detection and successful escape response at the earliest life stages, and continues to contribute to successful evasion by aiding visual cues in juvenile and adult squid.

- by Carly Anne York
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Cephalopods, Ontogeny, Squid

New World monkeys are a diverse primate group and a model for understanding hearing in mammals. However, comparable audiograms do not exist for the larger monkeys, making it difficult to test the hypothesized relationship between interaural distance and high-frequency hearing limit (i.e., the allometric model). Here, the auditory brainstem response (ABR) method is used to assess auditory sensitivity in four tufted capuchins (Sapajus apella), a large monkey with a large interaural distance. A primate-typical four-peak pattern in the ABR waveforms was found with peak latencies from ca. 2 to 12 ms after stimulus onset. Response amplitude decreased linearly with decreasing stimulus level (mean r2 = 0.93, standard deviation 0.14). Individual variation in each threshold was moderate (mean +/- 7 dB). The 10-dB bandwidth of enhanced sensitivity was 2-16 kHz—a range comparable to smaller monkeys and congruent with the bandwidth of their vocal repertoire. In accord with the general principles of the allometric model, the 60-dB high-frequency limit of S. apella (26 kHz) is lower than those of smaller-headed monkeys; however, it is substantially lower than 44.7 kHz, the value predicted by the allometric model. These findings and other exceptions to the allometric model warrant cautious application and further investigation of other potential selective factors.

- by Nathaniel J Dominy
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Primate Ecology, Audition, Primate Communication

According to one general estimate, approximately one- third of plant species in tropical forests delay the green- ing of their leaves until full expansion (Coley and Kursar 1996). This may result from either delayed chlorophyll synthesis or delayed development of the chloroplasts themselves (Whatley 1992, Kursar and Coley 1992a, Juniper 1993, Coley and Kursar 1996). A ‘delayed greening’ strategy is thought to provide newly flushing leaves, particularly those that are shade tolerant, with some protection against damage by potentially invasive organisms (Kursar and Coley 1992a, b, c). This protection derives, not from expensive investment in potent physicochemical defences, but from keeping young leaves virtually devoid of nutritive value until they reach full size. Because young leaves suffer the greatest predation from invertebrate herbivores (Coley 1983), this strategy could have high selective value for shade-tolerant tree species possessing long leaf lifespans, particularly if these grow on poor soils.

- by Nathaniel J Dominy
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Crypsis, Anthocyanins, Animal Behavior and Sensory Ecology
- by Sayli Kukadapwar
- •
- Sensory Ecology

The world in color presents a dazzling dimension of
phenotypic variation. Biological interest in this variation has burgeoned, due to both increased means for quantifying spectral information and heightened appreciation for how animals view the world differently than humans. Effective study of color traits is challenged by how to best quantify visual perception in nonhuman species. This requires consideration of at least visual physiology but ultimately also the neural processes underlying perception. Our knowledge of color
perception is founded largely on the principles gained from human psychophysics that have proven generalizable based on comparative studies in select animal models. Appreciation of these principles, their empirical foundation, and the reasonable limits to their applicability is crucial to reaching informed conclusions in color research.
In this article, we seek a common intellectual basis for the study of color in nature. We first discuss the key perceptual principles, namely, retinal photoreception, sensory channels, opponent processing, color constancy, and receptor noise. We then draw on this basis to inform an analytical framework driven by the research question in relation to identifiable viewers and visual tasks of interest. Consideration of the limits to perceptual inference guides two primary decisions: first, whether a sensory-based approach is necessary and justified and, second, whether the visual task refers to perceptual distance or discriminability. We outline informed approaches in each situation and discuss key challenges for future progress, focusing particularly on how animals perceive color. Given that animal behavior serves as both the basic unit of psychophysics and the ultimate driver of color ecology/evolution, behavioral data are critical to reconciling knowledge across the schools of color research.

- by Darrell Kemp
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Evolutionary Ecology, Color Perception, Color

In this study we showed that a freshwater fish, the climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) is incapable of using chemical communication but employs visual cues to acquire familiarity and distinguish a familiar group of conspecifics from an unfamiliar one. Moreover, the isolation of olfactory signals from visual cues did not affect the recognition and preference for a familiar shoal in this species.

- by V V Binoy and +2
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Fish Biology, Animal cognition (Psychology), Fish behaviour

A elevada quantidade de informações sensoriais presentes no ambiente natural exerce grande influência sobre as tomadas de decisões e adoção de diferentes estratégias comportamentais pelos animais. Dentre as diversas modalidades sensoriais existentes, a olfação, a gustação, a audição, o tato e a visão podem ser consideradas como as de maior relevância para os primatas. Nestes animais, a modalidade sensorial da visão se destaca por sua importância, sendo responsável pela decodificação da informação por vias neurais paralelas que competem pelo processamento. Dentre os mamíferos, os primatas se destacam por apresentar a melhor visão de cores. Contudo, o padrão de distribuição geográfica da visão de cores dos primatas não é homogêneo. Enquanto que uma tricromacia uniforme, similar à encontrada em seres humanos de visão normal, é observada em primatas do Velho Mundo, um polimorfismo visual ligado ao sexo se faz presente nas espécies do Novo Mundo, proporcionando dicromacia, similar à encontrada em seres humanos daltônicos, a todos os machos e a um terço das fêmeas, e tricromacia a dois terços das fêmeas. Diferentes métodos têm sido utilizados para se compreender os mecanismos e a função da visão de cores em primatas. Os principais métodos utilizados incluem abordagens fisiológicas e genéticas, estudos comportamentais e técnicas de modelagem visual. Com base nos resultados desses estudos, alguns fatores ecológicos e comportamentais foram propostos como possíveis fontes de pressão seletiva sobre a evolução da visão de cores (ex. a procura por alimento, a escolha de parceiros sexuais, a evasão de predação e o comportamento social). Diversas hipóteses têm procurado explicar a manuntenção do polimorfismo visual, dentre elas: a vantagem do heterozigoto, a seleção dependente de frequência, o mútuo benefício de associação e a diversificação de nichos. Mas, mesmo considerando a ampla gama de informações levantadas nas últimas quatro décadas, nenhum fator ecológico ou hipótese evolutiva se sobressai consideravelmente como uma forma de explicar o papel da visão de cores em primatas. O enfoque da ecologia sensorial, que procura compreender a influência exercida pelas informações ambientais sobre a percepção dos diferentes animais, pode trazer uma contribuição significativa para esse debate. Palavras-chave: polimorfismo visual; daltonismo; tricromacia; evolução; modelagem visual.

- by Daniel Pessoa and +1
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Primatology, Color Perception, Color Vision

Will Leibniz's philosophy turn us into ecologists? This is the bet of Pauline Phemister who, building upon Leibniz's theory of perception and of the interdependence of beings, shows that biodiversity is a form of beauty, and that its... more

Blind cavefish use a form of active sensing in which burst-coast swimming motions generate flow signals detected by the lateral line. To determine if blind cavefish have evolved behavioral specializations for active flow-sensing, including the ability to regulate flow signal production through lateral line feedback, the swimming kinematics of blind and sighted morphs of Astyanax were compared before and after 24 h of familiarization with a novel, dark environment and with and without lateral line functionality. Although both morphs showed little difference in the vast majority of kinematic parameters measured, blind morphs differed significantly from sighted morphs in having a much higher incidence of swim cycle sequences devoid of sharp turns. Both lateral line deprivation and familiarization with the arena led to significant declines in this number for blind, but not sighted morphs. These findings suggest that swimming kinematics are largely conserved, but that blind morphs have nevertheless evolved enhanced abilities to use lateral line feedback when linking swim cycles into continuous, straight trajectories for exploratory purposes. This behavioral specialization can best be understood in terms of the intermittent and short-range limitations of active flow-sensing and the challenges they pose for spatial orientation and navigation.

- by Paul Patton
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Neuroethology, Animal Behavior, Fish Biology

Great advances have been made recently in understanding the genetic basis of the sensory biology of bats. Research has focused on the molecular evolution of candidate sensory genes, genes with known functions [e.g., olfactory receptor (OR) genes] and genes identified from mutations associated with sensory deficits (e.g., blindness and deafness). For example, the FoxP2 gene, underpinning vocal behavior and sensorimotor coordination, has undergone diversification in bats, while several genes associated with audition show parallel amino acid substitutions in unrelated lineages of echolocating bats and, in some cases, in echolocating dolphins, representing a classic case of convergent molecular evolution. Vision genes encoding the photopigments rhodopsin and the long-wave sensitive opsin are functional in bats, while that encoding the short-wave sensitive opsin has lost functionality in rhinolophoid bats using high-duty cycle laryngeal echolocation, suggesting a sensory trade-off between investment in vision and echolocation. In terms of olfaction, bats appear to have a distinctive OR repertoire compared with other mammals, and a gene involved in signal transduction in the vomeronasal system has become non-functional in most bat species. Bitter taste receptors appear to have undergone a "birth-and death" evolution involving extensive gene duplication and loss, unlike genes coding for sweet and umami tastes that show conservation across most lineages but loss in vampire bats. Common vampire bats have also undergone adaptations for thermoperception, via alternative splicing resulting in the evolution of a novel heat-sensitive channel. The future for understanding the molecular basis of sensory biology is promising, with great potential for comparative genomic analyses, studies on gene regulation and expression, exploration of the role of alternative splicing in the generation of proteomic diversity, and linking genetic mechanisms to behavioral consequences. FIGURE 2 | Alternative hypotheses for the evolution of laryngeal echolocation. (A) Phylogenetic tree showing a single loss in the Old World fruit bats. (B) Phylogenetic tree in which echolocation was acquired independently by more than one lineage.

- by Stephen Rossiter
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Molecular Evolution, Evolution, Bats (Mammalogy)

Very little is known about how nocturnal primates find their food. Here we studied the sensory basis of food perception in wild-caught gray mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus) in Madagascar. Mouse lemurs feed primarily on fruit and arthropods. We established a set of behavioral experiments to assess food detection in wild-born, field-experienced mouse lemurs in short-term captivity. Specifically, we investigated whether they use visual, auditory, and motion cues to find and to localize prey arthropods and further whether olfactory cues are sufficient for finding fruit. Visual cues from motionless arthropod dummies were not sufficient to allow reliable detection of prey in choice experiments, nor did they trigger prey capture behavior when presented on the feeding platform. In contrast, visual motion cues from moving prey dummies attracted their attention. Behavioral observations and experiments with live and recorded insect rustling sounds indicated that the lemurs make use of prey-generated acoustic cues for foraging. Both visual motion cues and acoustic prey stimuli on their own were sufficient to trigger approach and capture behavior in the mouse lemurs. For the detection of fruit, choice experiments showed that olfactory information was sufficient for mouse lemurs to find a piece of banana. Our study provides the first experimental data on the sensory ecology of food detection in mouse lemurs. Further research is necessary to address the role of sensory ecology for food selection and possibly for niche differentiation between sympatric Microcebus species.

- by Holger R. Goerlitz
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Primates, Foraging, Auditory

For more information about postage charges and delivery times visit ww.oup.com/academic/help/shipping/. *only when you order directly via www.oup.com/academic/, adding promotion code ACFLYP8 to your shopping basket. Discount valid until 30/08/2017. Limit 10 copies per transaction. This offer is only available to individual (non-trade) customers. This offer is exclusive and cannot be redeemed in conjunction with any other promotional discounts. The specifications in this leaflet, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, were as accurate as possible at the time it went to press. • The first integrated synthesis of avian sensory ecology • Explains the broad principles and takes the reader into the sensory world of birds from an evolutionary and ecological perspective • Challenges people's assumptions about the sensory worlds of birds and shows how these are tuned to the many perceptual challenges that birds face in their natural environments • Presents insights into the reasons why birds are often victims of collisions with static structures, vehicles and nets, and suggests mitigations

- by Graham Martin
- •
- Sensory Ecology

Hereditary deafness affects 0.1% of individuals globally and is considered as one of the most debilitating diseases of man. Despite recent advances, the molecular basis of normal auditory function is not fully understood and little is known about the contribution of single-nucleotide variations to the disease. Using crossspecies comparisons of 11 'deafness' genes (Myo15, Ush1 g, Strc, Tecta, Tectb, Otog, Col11a2, Gjb2, Cldn14, Kcnq4, Pou3f4) across 69 evolutionary and ecologically divergent mammals, we elucidated whether there was evidence for: (i) adaptive evolution acting on these genes across mammals with similar hearing capabilities; and, (ii) regions of long-term evolutionary conservation within which we predict disease-associated mutations should occur. We find evidence of adaptive evolution acting on the eutherian mammals in Myo15, Otog and Tecta. Examination of selection pressures in Tecta and Pou3f4 across a taxonomic sample that included a wide representation of auditory specialists, the bats, did not uncover any evidence for a role in echolocation. We generated 'conservation indices' based on selection estimates at nucleotide sites and found that known disease mutations fall within sites of high evolutionary conservation. We suggest that methods such as this, derived from estimates of evolutionary conservation using phylogenetically divergent taxa, will help to differentiate between deleterious and benign mutations.

- by Stephen Rossiter
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Molecular Evolution, Bats (Mammalogy)
- by Fernando Otálora-Luna
- •
- Evolutionary Biology, Zoology, Sensory Ecology, Ecology

Our knowledge about the perceptual world of howler monkeys is unevenly distributed between the five senses. Whereas there is abundant knowledge about the sense of vision in the genus Alouatta, only limited data on the senses of hearing, smell, taste, and touch are available. The discovery that howler monkeys are the only genus among the New World primates to possess routine trichromacy has important implications for the evolution of color vision and therefore has been studied intensively. Detailed information about the genetic mechanisms and physiological processes underlying color vision in howler monkeys are available. Although the sound production, vocal repertoire, and acoustic communication in the genus Alouatta have been well documented, basic physiological measures of hearing performance such as audiograms are missing. Similarly, despite an increasing number of observational studies on olfactory communication in howler monkeys, there is a complete lack of physiological studies on the efficiency of their sense of smell. Information about the senses of taste and touch is even scarcer and mainly restricted to a description of their anatomical basis. A goal of this chapter is to summarize our current knowledge of the anatomy, physiology, genetics, and behavioral relevance of the different senses in howler monkeys in comparison to other platyrrhines.

- by Nathaniel J Dominy
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Primates, Behavioural Ecology of Primates, Alouatta

The structure and function of primate communication have attracted much attention, and vocal sig- nals, in particular, have been studied in detail. As a general rule, larger social groups emit more types of vocal signals, including those conveying the presence of specific types of predators. The adaptive advantages of receiving and responding to alarm calls are expected to exert a selective pressure on the auditory system. Yet, the comparative biology of primate hearing is limited to select species, and little attention has been paid to the effects of social and vocal complexity on hearing. Here, we use the auditory brainstem response method to generate the largest number of standard- ized audiograms available for any primate radiation. We compared the auditory sensitivities of 11 strepsirrhine species with and without independent contrasts and show that social complexity explains a significant amount of variation in two audiometric parameters—overall sensitivity and high-frequency limit. We verified the generality of this latter result by augmenting our analysis with published data from nine species spanning the primate order. To account for these findings, we develop and test a model of social drive. We hypothesize that social complexity has favoured enhanced hearing sensitivities, especially at higher frequencies.

- by Nathaniel J Dominy
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Hearing, Madagascar, Lemurs

Few mammals—cetaceans, domestic cats and select bats and rodents—can send and receive vocal signals contained within the ultrasonic domain, or pure ultrasound (greater than 20 kHz). Here, we use the auditory brainstem response (ABR) method to demonstrate that a species of noc- turnal primate, the Philippine tarsier (Tarsius syrichta), has a high-frequency limit of auditory sensitivity of ca 91 kHz. We also recorded a voca- lization with a dominant frequency of 70kHz. Such values are among the highest recorded for any terrestrial mammal, and a relatively extreme example of ultrasonic communication. For Philippine tarsiers, ultrasonic vocalizations might represent a private channel of communication that subverts detection by predators, prey and com- petitors, enhances energetic efficiency, or improves detection against low-frequency background noise.

- by Nathaniel J Dominy
- •
- Sensory Ecology, ULTRASOUND/ACOUSTICS, Ultrasound, Vocal Communication

In its ontological presuppositions, epistemological interests and methodological deliberations, critical theory of environmental education research (EER) is simultaneously scientific, normatively (and reflexively) critical, and non-idealistically practical. It is, therefore, a theory of practice, or praxis. Critical EE and its research aim for personal, social and ecological forms of justices achieved transformatively through the de and reconstruction of pedagogical, curriculum, policy and research practices that reconstitute various injustices. Missing from this reconstructive critique is the crucial role of aesthetics and the importance of affectivity in generating meaning about the agency of the researched by the researcher/actor. In this small scale self study of aesthetics and affectivity, we report on the deliberations of a workshop spread over two days about the aim of framing EER as a triad of environmental aesthetics-environmental ethics-ecopolitics. We emphasize how sensuous ethnography in walking provided a methodological means within the mobility genre of interpretive research. We aim to generate meaning about the concept of ecosomaesthetics needed in a new language and images of environmental education. Some key images are included in the following text while others are referenced and available on-line (see footnote 7).

- by Cae Rodrigues
- •
- Critical Theory, Environmental Science, Aesthetics, Ethics

Data on specific features of the seismosensory system of the Lower Amur grayling Thymallus
tugarinae from the Anyui River (basin of the Lower Amur) are provided. According to the number of openings
in canals of the seismosensory system, individuals from the middle course significantly differ from graylings
from the lower course in greater values of interpopulation diversity and fluctuating asymmetry. According to
the number of pores of canals of the seismosensory system, the Lower Amur grayling differs from the East
Siberian T. arcticus pallasi, Kamchatka T. a. mertensii, and Alaska T. a. signifer graylings.

- by PAVEL MIKHEEV
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Fish Biology, Freshwater Ecology, Fish Ecology

Primates are unique among eutherian mammals for possessing three types of retinal cone. Curiously, catarrhines, platyrrhines, and strepsirhines share this anatomy to different extents, and no hypothesis has hitherto accounted for this variability. Here we propose that the historical biogeography of figs and arborescent palms accounts for the global variation in primate color vision. Specifically, we suggest that primates invaded Paleogene forests characterized by figs and palms, the fruits of which played a keystone function. Primates not only relied on such resources, but also provided high-quality seed dispersal. In turn, figs and palms lost or simply did not evolve conspicuous coloration, as this conferred little advantage for attracting mammals. We suggest that the abundance and coloration of figs and palms offered a selective advantage to foraging groups with mixed capabilities for chromatic distinction. Climatic cooling at the end of the Eocene and into the Neogene resulted in widespread regional extinction or decimation of palms and (probably) figs. In regions where figs and palms became scarce, we suggest primates evolved routine trichromatic vision in order to exploit proteinaceous young leaves as a replacement resource. A survey of the hue and biogeography of extant figs and palms provides some empirical support. Where these resources are infrequent, primates are routinely trichromatic and consume young leaves during seasonal periods of fruit dearth. These results imply a link between the differential evolution of primate color vision and climatic changes during the Eocene–Oligocene transition.

- by Nathaniel J Dominy
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Figs, Animal Behavior and Sensory Ecology

Most triatomine bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) are hematophagous, though Belminus species can live off of cockroach hemolymph to complete their life cycle. In this work, we described the fixed action pattern (FAP) employed by B. ferroae to identify, approach, and suck on a living cockroach. The FAP described here is composed of the following stereotyped behaviors: (1) visual and/or olfactory detection of the cockroach, (2) reaching, (3) cautious approach, (4) antennal exploration, (5) extension of the proboscis, (6) piercing to sedate, (7) walking away and waiting (postsedation behavior), (8) second cautious approach, (9) extension of the proboscis, (10) piercing to suck hemolymph. The FAP sequence observed suggests that Belminus bugs are not predators like the rest of reduviids (assassin bugs)—but are kleptophagous ectoparasites, since they do not attack and kill a prey but rather steal hemolymph from its invertebrate host. Based on these ethological observations, we propose kleptophagy as a trait that naturally groups the Belminus species into the Triatominae subfamily. In order to identify chemicals cues that could elicit such FAP, we examined the behavior of B. corredori , B. ferroae , and B. herreri in response to the cockroaches’ odor, fresh cockroach feces and fresh rodent wastes. The last two sources were tested based on the assumption that abundant chemicals near host refuges could serve as cues for host orientation. We found that the cockroach odor emanating from a box significantly attracted B. corredori and B. herreri in a still air olfactometer. The three Belminus species approached the captive cockroach after 1 h, but avoided to climb the box. Odors emanating from the cockroach feces attracted B. corredori and B. ferroae in a Y-olfactometer. Triatomines and their hosts have intimately shared the same refuge for millions of years; certain molecules occur across invertebrate and vertebrate refuges and are recurrent in human abodes, thus plausibly explaining how these bugs can readily switch to the domestic habitat, while keeping with their kleptophagous nature.

- by Fernando Otálora-Luna
- •
- Zoology, Sensory Ecology, Biology, Natural History
- by John Sabol
- •
- Archaeology, Sensory Ecology, Landscape Archaeology, Soundscape Studies

In this work, the structural designs of triatomine's stylets (Hemiptera: Reduviidae, Triatominae), and their functional implications, were studied based on the morphological descriptions elaborated by high-resolution optical microcopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The following species were selected (according to their diverse feeding habits): Belminus ferroae (entomophagic), Rhodnius prolixus (euryphagic), Panstrongylus geniculatus (commonly feed on armadillos) and Triatoma maculata (ornitophagic and stenophagic). All of these species showed mandibular and maxillary stylets with a ventral grooved face, denticulate mandibular stylets and more chitinized at their distal end, as well as lamellar maxillary stylets which are more flexible than mandibular stylets. Length between maxillary and mandibular stylets varied between species; and robustness, size and spaces between teeth at the distal end of mandibular stylets also varied. Based on the observation of these four species, we propose a general morphoconstructional model of mandibular and maxillary stylet design for the subfamily Triatominae. KEY WORDS: Kissing bugs, mandibular stylets, maxillary stylets, evolutionary trends, constructional morphology, natural selection. INTRODUCCIÓN Los miembros de la familia Reduviidae invariablemente carnívoros, poseen un juego de cuatro estiletes, dos mandibulares y dos maxilares, organizados en el interior del rostro y funcionalmente implicados en picar y anclar, los primeros; y en eyectar saliva a través de un canal salivar dorsal y en succionar sangre o hemolinfa a través de un canal alimentario ventral, los segundos (Livingstone et al. 1998). Siguiendo la corriente neodarwinista cabría aceptar que la forma y organización de los estiletes en los Reduviidae dependa de las adaptaciones alimentarias, suponiendo que las fuentes de alimentación han operado ejerciendo una presión selectiva para que sobrevivan y se reproduzcan más aquellas especies cuya organización de los estiletes satisfaga mejor que otras las funciones correspondientes. Como mínimo se esperarían ver, según este modelo, obvias diferencias órgano-funcionales entre las piezas bucales de los entomófagos y hematófagos. Y es que con base en este razonamiento se ha entendido que la adaptación a la hematofagia, carácter común de todos los miembros de la subfamilia Triatominae, ha determinado la forma y función del aparato bucal de esta subfamilia. La propuesta neo-RESUMEN En el presente trabajo se estudió el diseño estructural e implicaciones funcionales de los estiletes de triatominos (Hemiptera: Reduviidae, Triatominae) adultos, criados en condiciones de laboratorio, a partir de las descripciones morfológicas elaboradas mediante un estudio de microscopía de luz de alta resolución (MLAR) y microscopía electrónica de barrido (MEB). Se seleccionaron las siguientes especies (en función de sus diversas preferencias alimentarias): Belminus ferroae (entomofágico), Rhodnius prolixus (eurifágico), Panstrongylus geniculatus (comúnmente se alimenta de armadillos) y Triatoma maculata (ornitofágico y estenofágico). En todas ellas se observaron estiletes mandibulares y maxilares de cara ventral acanalada, estiletes mandibulares denticulados y más quitinizados en su extremo distal, así como estiletes maxilares laminares y más flexibles que los mandibulares. Además, se observó diversidad entre las especies estudiadas en cuanto a la longitud relativa entre los estiletes maxilares y mandibulares, y las características de los dientes en el extremo distal del estilete mandibular variaron según: robustez, tamaño y espacios entre sí. A partir de lo observado en estas cuatro especies se propone, visto como una adaptación estructural, un modelo morfoconstruccional generalizado del diseño de los estiletes mandibulares y maxilares para la subfamilia Triatominae.

- by Fernando Otálora-Luna
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Constructional Morphology, Chagas disease, Triatominae
- by Christophe Novak
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Time Perception, Nature, Urbanity

- by Jens-Christian Svenning
- •
- Evolutionary Biology, Archaeology, Anthropology, Human Evolution

Several animals and microbes have been shown to be sensitive to magnetic fields, though the exact mechanisms of this ability remain unclear in many animals. Chitons are marine molluscs which have high levels of biomineralised magnetite coating their radulae. This discovery led to persistent anecdotal suggestions that they too may be able to navigationally respond to magnetic fields. Several researchers have attempted to test this, but to date there have been no largescale controlled empirical trials. In the current study, four chiton species (Katharina tunicata, Mopalia kennerleyi, Mopalia muscosa and Leptochiton rugatus, n = 24 in each) were subjected to natural and artificially rotated magnetic fields while their movement through an arena was recorded over four hours. Field orientation did not influence the position of the chitons at the end of trials, possibly as a result of the primacy of other sensory cues (i.e. thigmotaxis). Under non-rotated magnetic field conditions, the orientation of subjects when they first reached the edge of an arena was clustered around 309-345°(northnorth-west) in all four species. However, orientations were random under the rotated magnetic field, which may indicate a disruptive effect of field rotation. This pattern suggests that chitons can detect and respond to magnetism.

- by Lauren Sumner-Rooney
- •
- Evolutionary Biology, Zoology, Sensory Ecology, Animal Behavior

"1. Predatory mammals and birds from several phylogenetic lineages use prey rustling sounds to detect and locate prey. However, it is not known whether these rustling sounds convey information about the prey, such as its size or profitability, and whether predators use them to classify prey accordingly.
2.We recorded rustling sounds of insects in Madagascar walking on natural substrate and show a clear correlation between insect mass and several acoustic parameters.
3. In subsequent behavioural experiments in the field, we determined whether nocturnal animals, when foraging for insects, evaluate these parameters to classify their prey. We used field-experienced Grey Mouse Lemurs Microcebus murinus in short-term captivity. Mouse Lemurs are generally regarded as a good model for the most ancestral primate condition. They use multimodal sensorial information to find food (mainly fruit, gum, insect secretions and arthropods) in nightly forest. Acoustic cues play a role in detection of insect prey.
4. When presented with two simultaneous playbacks of rustling sounds, lemurs spontaneously chose the one higher above their hearing threshold, i.e. they used the rustling sound’s amplitude for classification. We were not able, despite attempts in a reinforced paradigm, to persuade lemurs to use cues other than amplitude, e.g. frequency cues, for prey discrimination.
5. Our data suggests that Mouse Lemurs, when foraging for insects, use the mass–amplitude correlation of prey-generated rustling sounds to evaluate the average mass of insects and to guide their foraging decisions."

- by Holger R. Goerlitz
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Foraging ecology, Size Perception, Prey Perception

Triatomines (Heteroptera, Reduviidae) are vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease in America. These true bugs have traditionally been considered to be blood suckers, although some species have been catalogued as being entomophagous. By using their highly specialized mouthparts, these insects have evolved a stereotyped habit which includes lifting up the proboscis, piercing and sucking, when the occasion arises. Most triatomines bite their sleeping and unaware vertebrate or invertebrate hosts, but they can also search for other targets, guided, in part, by visual and chemical stimuli. In this study, we observed that triatomines apparently visually identify a drop of water in the distance, then taste it with their legs, upon which proboscis extension and sucking ensues. This invariant behavior or fixed action pattern, observed in several triatomine species (Rhodnius prolixus, Triatoma infestans and Panstrongylus geniculatus), was also elicited by a dummy ...

- by Fernando Otálora-Luna
- •
- Zoology, Ethology, Sensory Ecology, Biology

Colour vision varies within the family Atelidae (Primates, Platyrrhini), which consists of four genera with the following cladistic relationship: {Alouatta[Ateles (Lagothrix and Brachyteles)]}. Spider monkeys (Ateles) and woolly monkeys (Lagothrix) are characteristic of platyrrhine monkeys in possessing a colour vision polymorphism. The polymorphism results from allelic variation of the single-locus middle-to-long wavelength (M/L) cone opsin gene on the X-chromosome. The presence in the population of alleles coding for different M/L photopigments results in a variety of colour vision phenotypes. Such a polymorphism is absent in howling monkeys (Alouatta), which, alone among platyrrhines, acquired uniform trichromatic vision similar to that of Old World monkeys, apes, and humans through opsin gene duplication. Dietary and morphological similarities between howling monkeys and muriquis (Brachyteles) raise the possibility that the two genera share a similar form of colour vision, uniform trichromacy. Yet parsimony predicts that the colour vision of Brachyteles will resemble the polymorphism present in Lagothrix and Ateles. Here we test this assumption. We obtained DNA from the blood or faeces of 18 muriquis and sequenced exons 3 and 5 of the M/L opsin gene. Our results affirm the existence of a single M/L cone opsin gene in the genus Brachyteles. We detected three alleles with predicted λmax values of 530, 550, and 562 nm. Two females were heterozygous and are thus predicted to have different types of M/L cone pigment. We discuss the implication of this result towards understanding the evolutionary ecology of trichromatic vision.

- by Nathaniel J Dominy
- •
- Sensory Ecology, Brazil, Atlantic Forest, Color Vision