Research Starter Grant "Teasing apart the contribution of color and motion toward the efficiency of visual signal displays"
Lay abstract: Visual signals used during social interactions commonly incorporate motion and color in their design. These signals are used to transmit information, which influences the behavior of the interacting animals. Surprisingly, we know very little about the effect of color and motion in signal detection, and even less about how changes of one of the signal components influences signal efficiency (i.e., detection ability) and content (i.e., information ability). The multicomponent signal hypothesis predicts that an increase in efficiency is achieved by the simultaneous stimulation of two or more sensory pathways, resulting in an increase in the ability of the receiver to detect and recognize the signal. This study will examine the contribution of motion and color patterns to the efficiency of visual signals in the lizard Anolis krugi. Experimental manipulations of the signal design, motion, and color pattern will be conducted to test the role of these components on signal efficiency and signal content. The proposed research will be one of only a handful of studies to directly test the multiple signal hypothesis in visual signals. The findings will contribute not only to basic scientific knowledge in the area of animal communication, but also to improving our knowledge of the interaction between color and motion on visual perception. Furthermore, the fundamental principles which control how detectable visual stimuli are in lizards are similar to those which control visual target visibility in vertebrate visual systems; thus, these studies can provide important insights into the ways in which vertebrate visual systems process moving, colored signals.
