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Visual Acuity and the Evolution of Signals.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Caves, EM; Brandley, NC; Johnsen, S
Published in: Trends in ecology & evolution
May 2018

Acuity, the fineness with which sensory systems perceive and parse information, limits the information that organisms can extract from stimuli. Here, we focus on visual acuity (the ability to perceive static spatial detail) to discuss relationships between acuity and signal form and evolution. Research suggests that acuity varies by orders of magnitude across species, and that most animals have much lower acuity than humans. Thus, hypotheses regarding the function of spatial patterns must account for the acuity of relevant viewers. New data quantifying acuity in a range of taxa allow us to examine correlations between acuity and ecology, elucidate the selective forces that receiver acuity places on signal evolution, and examine how signals might appear to viewers with different acuities.

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Published In

Trends in ecology & evolution

DOI

EISSN

1872-8383

ISSN

0169-5347

Publication Date

May 2018

Volume

33

Issue

5

Start / End Page

358 / 372

Related Subject Headings

  • Visual Acuity
  • Life History Traits
  • Humans
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Communication
  • Biological Evolution
  • Animals
  • Animal Communication
  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences
 

Citation

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Caves, E. M., Brandley, N. C., & Johnsen, S. (2018). Visual Acuity and the Evolution of Signals. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 33(5), 358–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.001
Caves, Eleanor M., Nicholas C. Brandley, and Sönke Johnsen. “Visual Acuity and the Evolution of Signals.Trends in Ecology & Evolution 33, no. 5 (May 2018): 358–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.001.
Caves EM, Brandley NC, Johnsen S. Visual Acuity and the Evolution of Signals. Trends in ecology & evolution. 2018 May;33(5):358–72.
Caves, Eleanor M., et al. “Visual Acuity and the Evolution of Signals.Trends in Ecology & Evolution, vol. 33, no. 5, May 2018, pp. 358–72. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.001.
Caves EM, Brandley NC, Johnsen S. Visual Acuity and the Evolution of Signals. Trends in ecology & evolution. 2018 May;33(5):358–372.
Journal cover image

Published In

Trends in ecology & evolution

DOI

EISSN

1872-8383

ISSN

0169-5347

Publication Date

May 2018

Volume

33

Issue

5

Start / End Page

358 / 372

Related Subject Headings

  • Visual Acuity
  • Life History Traits
  • Humans
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Communication
  • Biological Evolution
  • Animals
  • Animal Communication
  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences