Category Archives: What’s New in Sensory Ecology?

Animals generally live in multisensory worlds, relying upon many different types of information to ensure survival. For animals living in groups who use social information to make decisions, two types of information may be available from other group members: cues … Continue reading →

With stiff competition to find that special someone, sometimes it may be necessary to be a little stealthy to beat out your opponents. Male oyster toadfish know this well, according to recent research by Allen F. Mesinger, which examined the … Continue reading →

Could we be using bird models to guide some of our own dinner table disputes over who will get the last slice of bread? In a study published this month by the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, researchers from the University … Continue reading →

  Imagine coming across a hungry tiger. It fixes its gaze on you, and roars. You have three options: you can stay and fight, you can run, or you can strike your best pose and hope your assailant is deterred. … Continue reading →

New neurogenic tools of Drosophila research have provided previously unknown information regarding the neural circuitry responsible for visually guided behaviors.  Researchers from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom have stimulated specific sensory ring neurons using a combined two-photo … Continue reading →

Humans are just one of many species that rely heavily on visual information for survival. Accurate vision enables prey and predator detection and recognition of conspecifics, as well as navigational abilities. Because of this reliance on visual cues, damage to … Continue reading →

If you’re running at 120 body lengths per second, as some species of diurnal tiger beetles (Carabidae: Cicindelinae) can, it would be rather difficult to see everything around you (Figure 1). Motion blur becomes a problem, as it substantially degrades … Continue reading →

For females, choosing a mate is no superficial task. Heritable genetic factors provide significant help along the choice journey, presetting female attractiveness towards reproductively favorable traits in males. Common seemingly shallow questions such as, “Is he attractive?”, or “Does he … Continue reading →

Bats often fly above bodies of water from dusk to early evening to drink and forage. Foraging bats use ultrasonic pulses, sounds that are inaudible to us, that are regularly synced with wing beats and respiratory cycles to orient and … Continue reading →