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Animal coloration patterns: linking spatial vision to quantitative analysis

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posted on 2023-06-09, 17:16 authored by Mary Caswell Stoddard, Daniel Colaco OsorioDaniel Colaco Osorio
Animal coloration patterns, from zebra stripes to bird egg speckles, are remarkably varied. With research on the perception, function, and evolution of animal patterns growing rapidly, we require a convenient framework for quantifying their diversity, particularly in the contexts of camouflage, mimicry, mate choice, and individual recognition. Ideally, patterns should be defined by their locations in a low-dimensional pattern space that represents their appearance to their natural receivers, much as color is represented by color spaces. This synthesis explores the extent to which animal patterns, like colors, can be described by a few perceptual dimensions in a pattern space. We begin by reviewing biological spatial vision, focusing on early stages during which neurons act as spatial filters or detect simple features such as edges. We show how two methods from computational vision—spatial filtering and feature detection—offer qualitatively distinct measures of animal coloration patterns. Spatial filters provide a measure of the image statistics, captured by the spatial frequency power spectrum. Image statistics give a robust but incomplete representation of the appearance of patterns, whereas feature detectors are essential for sensing and recognizing physical objects, such as distinctive markings and animal bodies. Finally, we discuss how pattern space analyses can lead to new insights into signal design and macroevolution of animal phenotypes. Overall, pattern spaces open up new possibilities for exploring how receiver vision may shape the evolution of animal pattern signals.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

American Naturalist

ISSN

0003-0147

Publisher

The University of Chicago Press

Issue

2

Volume

193

Page range

164-186

Department affiliated with

  • Evolution, Behaviour and Environment Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2019-03-15

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2020-01-16

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2019-03-14

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