Stellar performance : Mechanisms underlying milky way orientation in dung beetles
(2017) In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 372(1717).- Abstract
Nocturnal dung beetles (Scarabaeus satyrus) are currently the only animals that have been demonstrated to use the Milky Way for reliable orientation. In this study, we tested the capacity of S. satyrus to orient under a range of artificial celestial cues, and compared the properties of these cues with images of the Milky Way simulated for a beetle’s visual system. We find that the mechanism that permits accurate stellar orientation under the Milky Way is based on an intensity comparison between different regions of the Milky Way. We determined the beetles’ contrast sensitivity for this task in behavioural experiments in the laboratory, and found that the resulting threshold of 13% is sufficient to detect the contrast between the... (More)
Nocturnal dung beetles (Scarabaeus satyrus) are currently the only animals that have been demonstrated to use the Milky Way for reliable orientation. In this study, we tested the capacity of S. satyrus to orient under a range of artificial celestial cues, and compared the properties of these cues with images of the Milky Way simulated for a beetle’s visual system. We find that the mechanism that permits accurate stellar orientation under the Milky Way is based on an intensity comparison between different regions of the Milky Way. We determined the beetles’ contrast sensitivity for this task in behavioural experiments in the laboratory, and found that the resulting threshold of 13% is sufficient to detect the contrast between the southern and northern arms of the Milky Way under natural conditions. This mechanism should be effective under extremely dim conditions and on nights when the Milky Way forms a near symmetrical band that crosses the zenith. These findings are discussed in the context of studies of stellar orientation in migratory birds and itinerant seals.
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- author
- Foster, James J. LU ; el Jundi, Basil LU ; Smolka, Jochen LU ; Khaldy, Lana LU ; Nilsson, Dan Eric LU ; Byrne, Marcus J and Dacke, Marie LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2017-04-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Sky compass, Star, Straight-line orientation, Vision
- in
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- volume
- 372
- issue
- 1717
- article number
- 20160079
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85012253780
- pmid:28193823
- wos:000394258900017
- ISSN
- 0962-8436
- DOI
- 10.1098/rstb.2016.0079
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 6d02df52-4841-4ac3-a4c1-c5a0ed22e082
- date added to LUP
- 2017-02-22 11:44:40
- date last changed
- 2024-03-31 01:39:43
@article{6d02df52-4841-4ac3-a4c1-c5a0ed22e082,
abstract = {{<p>Nocturnal dung beetles (Scarabaeus satyrus) are currently the only animals that have been demonstrated to use the Milky Way for reliable orientation. In this study, we tested the capacity of S. satyrus to orient under a range of artificial celestial cues, and compared the properties of these cues with images of the Milky Way simulated for a beetle’s visual system. We find that the mechanism that permits accurate stellar orientation under the Milky Way is based on an intensity comparison between different regions of the Milky Way. We determined the beetles’ contrast sensitivity for this task in behavioural experiments in the laboratory, and found that the resulting threshold of 13% is sufficient to detect the contrast between the southern and northern arms of the Milky Way under natural conditions. This mechanism should be effective under extremely dim conditions and on nights when the Milky Way forms a near symmetrical band that crosses the zenith. These findings are discussed in the context of studies of stellar orientation in migratory birds and itinerant seals.</p>}},
author = {{Foster, James J. and el Jundi, Basil and Smolka, Jochen and Khaldy, Lana and Nilsson, Dan Eric and Byrne, Marcus J and Dacke, Marie}},
issn = {{0962-8436}},
keywords = {{Sky compass; Star; Straight-line orientation; Vision}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{04}},
number = {{1717}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}},
title = {{Stellar performance : Mechanisms underlying milky way orientation in dung beetles}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0079}},
doi = {{10.1098/rstb.2016.0079}},
volume = {{372}},
year = {{2017}},
}