Vision And Touch In Relation To Foraging And Predator Detection: Insightful Contrasts Between A Plover And A Sandpiper

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Veterinary
Article Date: 08 Oct 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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In the majority of animals vision needs to serve two key demands simultaneously: (1) the detection of predators that are remote from the animal, and (2) the control of accurate behaviours, such as the procurement of food, at close quarters.

By comparing the visual fields of two species of shorebirds (golden plovers and red knots) we have shown that there is a clear evolutionary trade-off between these demands, and that the use of vision for close accurate behaviours takes clear precedence over predator detection.

Golden plovers often feed at night and this is associated with their relatively large eyes which literally bulge from the skull. We have found that their eyes are anchored in the skull by a special wing-like outgrowth of bone which we have named the "supraorbital aliform bone", Os supraorbitale aliforme.

The larger eyes and their associated bones have resulted in a wide blind area above the head which leaves golden plovers particularly vulnerable to predation.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences