Question of prey feature detectors in the toad'sBufo bufo (L.) visual system: A correlation analysis

Ewert, Jörg-Peter; Borchers, H.-W.; Wietersheim, A. von

doi:10.1007/bf01342649

Cited by 78 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Movement is a characteristic feature of most animals, and the salience of movement is well appreciated for sensory processing in the visual system (e.g., refs. [17][18][19]. Thus, many predators and prey selectively attend to movement in a visual scene, for obvious reasons.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water shrews detect movement, shape, and smell to find prey underwater

Catania

Hare²,

Campbell³

2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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American water shrews (Sorex palustris) are aggressive predators that feed on a variety of terrestrial and aquatic prey. They often forage at night, diving into streams and ponds in search of food. We investigated how shrews locate submerged prey using highspeed videography, infrared lighting, and stimuli designed to mimic prey. Shrews attacked brief water movements, indicating motion is an important cue used to detect active or escaping prey. They also bit, retrieved, and attempted to eat model fish made of silicone in preference to other silicone objects showing that tactile cues are important in the absence of movement. In addition, water shrews preferentially sniffed model prey fish and crickets underwater by exhaling and reinhaling air through the nostrils, suggesting olfaction plays an important role in aquatic foraging. The possibility of echolocation, sonar, or electroreception was investigated by testing for ultrasonic and audible calls above and below water and by presenting electric fields to foraging shrews. We found no evidence for these abilities. We conclude that water shrews detect motion, shape, and smell to find prey underwater. The short latency of attacks to water movements suggests shrews may use a flush-pursuit strategy to capture some prey.insectivore ͉ olfaction ͉ somatosensory ͉ tactile ͉ whiskers

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water shrews detect movement, shape, and smell to find prey underwater

Catania

Hare²,

Campbell³

2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…If the highest average impulse rate evoked by one pattern was not significantly different from that of at least one other pattern, the response was considered nonpreferential (A = B^C ). In order to quantify the strength of preference, we used the ■form-contrast' formula developed by Ewert et al [1978]: 3 = (A -B )/(A t B). where A and B represent the average impulse rates evoked by the two patterns to be compared.…”

Section: Data Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Configuration-Sensitive Visual Responses in the Superior Colliculus of the House Mouse (Mus musculus domesticus)

Manteuffel

Fiseifis²

1990

Brain Behav Evol

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In order to compare visual pattern discrimination by tectal neurons in distantly related vertebrate groups, collicular cells of mice were examined for their responses to each of three simple configurational stimuli commonly used in studies of amphibians. The stimuli consisted of a large square, a horizontal bar and a vertical bar moved at various velocities. Of the recorded units (n = 51), 30–50% significantly preferred the square to the other stimuli at medium (10°/s) and high (67°/s) velocities. Approximately 10% preferred the horizontal bar at these velocities. A significant discrimination between the horizontal and the vertical bar was found in 39% of the units at a velocity of 10°/s, and in 61% at a velocity of 67°/s. These response types are very similar to those found in amphibians; therefore, it is concluded that tectal configurational sensitivity may be a plesiomorphic tetrapod character resulting from basic properties of tectal neuronal circuitry.

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“…Neurons of the visual system, which are sensitive to configurational stimuli (tested in the behavioral experiments) have been recorded from the optic tectum and the thalamic-pretectal region of the toad [Ewert, 1974;Ewert and v. Wietersheim, 1974a;Ewert et al, 1978). The average shape of the receptive fields of these neurons is approximately radially symmetrical.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invariants in Configurational Prey Selection by Bufo bufo (L.)

Ewert¹,

Arend²,

Becker³

et al. 1979

Brain Behav Evol

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Toads (Bufo bufo) are able to distinguish small stripes with axis orientation in the direction of motion (worm-like stripes) from those with axis orientation perpendicular to the direction of motion (anti-worm-like stripes). The configurational discrimination ability of the toad is, thus far investigated, largely invariant for (1) movement direction in the x-y plane, (2) direction of contrast – stripe against background – and (3) velocity of stripe motion.

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Question of prey feature detectors in the toad'sBufo bufo (L.) visual system: A correlation analysis

Cited by 78 publications

References 21 publications

Water shrews detect movement, shape, and smell to find prey underwater

Water shrews detect movement, shape, and smell to find prey underwater

Configuration-Sensitive Visual Responses in the Superior Colliculus of the House Mouse <i>(Mus musculus domesticus</i><i>)</i>

Invariants in Configurational Prey Selection by <i>Bufo bufo </i>(L.)

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