Navigation in Animals

1997 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 448-457
Author(s):  
G. V. T. Matthews

This paper was first published in the Journal in 1969 (Vol. 22, p. 118). It is followed by comments from John Kemp.The last twenty-one years have seen some very striking advances in our knowledge of how animals can determine their location. In many cases we have learned that they have available a wider range of stimuli than ourselves for recognizing landmarks and for pilotage within their home area. Thus the associated senses of smell and taste are extraordinarily well developed in some species. The ability of the males of certain moths to detect the scent emitted by females at very considerable distances had long been known. More recently the extreme sensitivity, and selectivity, of fish to waterborne odours has led to an understanding of how they locate their home waters. As but one example, eels have shown reactions to concentrations of chemicals as low as 3 × 10−18, equivalent to but two or three molecules within the fish's olfactory sac. In other cases animals have developed sensitivities of which we have little or no conception. Ecolocation is employed by certain birds, by many marine animals and reaches a peak of efficiency in the case of bats. Not only do the latter detect sounds of much higher frequency than ourselves, they also respond to echoes of sounds they emitted but 0·001 seconds earlier. We have little appreciation of the sensations produced by the pressure-receptors in the lateral-line organs of fish.

1969 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. V. T. Matthews

The last twenty-one years have seen some very striking advances in our knowledge of how animals can determine their location. In many cases we have learned that they have available a wider range of stimuli than ourselves for recognizing landmarks and for pilotage within their home area. Thus the associated senses of smell and taste are extraordinarily well developed in some species. The ability of the males of certain moths to detect the scent emitted by females at very considerable distances had long been known. More recently the extreme sensitivity, and selectivity, of fish to waterborne odours has led to an understanding of how they locate their home waters.


Author(s):  
Tim Ziemer

Sonar provides vessels with a sensory system to detect and identify still and moving obstacles. In shallow water both active and passive sonar meet their limits. Acoustical methods exist, aiming at supporting sonar systems by means of digital signal processing, or, coming from the field of biomimetics, imitating echolocation principles of marine animals. This paper introduces a sensor system combining these approaches by the use of a vector sensor array applying Near-field Acoustical Holography (NAH) imitating the Lateral Line organ (LL) of fish; a passive method to supplement active and passive sonar. LL is able to localize obstacles due to their dipole-like water displacement by comparing low-frequency water accelerations distributed along the whole body. In contrast to pressure, accelerations are highly evanescent and do not propagate into the far-field. Thus LL does not suffer under reverberation or scattering. The performance of the proposed NAH-based LL-sensor is tested by a computer simulation of a source in absence and in presence of a disturbing source. The LL-sensor has proven to be more robust than pressure detection methods like beamforming and conventional NAH.


Author(s):  
K. Hama

The lateral line organs of the sea eel consist of canal and pit organs which are different in function. The former is a low frequency vibration detector whereas the latter functions as an ion receptor as well as a mechano receptor.The fine structure of the sensory epithelia of both organs were studied by means of ordinary transmission electron microscope, high voltage electron microscope and of surface scanning electron microscope.The sensory cells of the canal organ are polarized in front-caudal direction and those of the pit organ are polarized in dorso-ventral direction. The sensory epithelia of both organs have thinner surface coats compared to the surrounding ordinary epithelial cells, which have very thick fuzzy coatings on the apical surface.


Author(s):  
Edward D. DeLamater ◽  
Walter R. Courtenay ◽  
Cecil Whitaker

Comparative scanning electron microscopy studies of fish scales of different orders, families, genera and species within genera have demonstrated differences which warrant elaboration. These differences in detail appear to be sufficient to act as “fingerprints”, at least, for family differences. To date, the lateral line scales have been primarily studied. These demonstrate differences in the lateral line canals; the pattern of ridging with or without secondary protuberances along the edges; the pattern of spines or their absence on the anterior border of the scales; the presence or absence of single or multiple holes on the ventral and dorsal sides of the lateral line canal covers. The distances between the ridges in the pattern appear likewise to be important.A statement of fish scale structure and a comparison of family and species differences will be presented.The authors wish to thank Dr. Donald Marzalek and Mr. Wallace Charm of the Marine and Atmospheric Laboratory of the University of Miami and Dr. Sheldon Moll and Dr. Richard Turnage of AMR for their exhaustive help in these preliminary studies.


Author(s):  
John L. Hutchison

Over the past five years or so the development of a new generation of high resolution electron microscopes operating routinely in the 300-400 kilovolt range has produced a dramatic increase in resolution, to around 1.6 Å for “structure resolution” and approaching 1.2 Å for information limits. With a large number of such instruments now in operation it is timely to assess their impact in the various areas of materials science where they are now being used. Are they falling short of the early expectations? Generally, the manufacturers’ claims regarding resolution are being met, but one unexpected factor which has emerged is the extreme sensitivity of these instruments to both floor-borne and acoustic vibrations. Successful measures to counteract these disturbances may require the use of special anti-vibration blocks, or even simple oil-filled dampers together with springs, with heavy curtaining around the microscope room to reduce noise levels. In assessing performance levels, optical diffraction analysis is becoming the accepted method, with rotational averaging useful for obtaining a good measure of information limits. It is worth noting here that microscope alignment becomes very critical for the highest resolution.In attempting an appraisal of the contributions of intermediate voltage HREMs to materials science we will outline a few of the areas where they are most widely used. These include semiconductors, oxides, and small metal particles, in addition to metals and minerals.


Author(s):  
Minu Mathew ◽  
Chandra Sekhar Rout

This review details the fundamentals, working principles and recent developments of Schottky junctions based on 2D materials to emphasize their improved gas sensing properties including low working temperature, high sensitivity, and selectivity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. 163-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Niella ◽  
AF Smoothey ◽  
V Peddemors ◽  
R Harcourt

In the face of accelerating climate change, conservation strategies will need to consider how marine animals deal with forecast environmental change as well as ongoing threats. We used 10 yr (2009-2018) of data from commercial fisheries and a bather protection program along the coast of New South Wales (NSW), southeastern Australia, to investigate (1) spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence in bull sharks and (2) environmental factors affecting bull shark occurrence along the coast of NSW. Predicted future distribution for this species was modelled for the forecast strengthening East Australian Current. Bull sharks were mostly harvested in small to larger estuaries, with average depth and rainfall responsible for contrasting patterns for each of the fisheries. There was an increase in the occurrence of bull sharks over the last decade, particularly among coastal setline fisheries, associated with seasonal availability of thermal gradients >22°C and both westward and southward coastal currents stronger than 0.15 and 0.60 m s-1, respectively, during the austral summer. Our model predicts a 3 mo increase in the availability of favourable water temperatures along the entire coast of NSW for bull sharks by 2030. This coastline provides a uniquely favourable topography for range expansion in the face of a southerly shift of warmer waters, and habitat is unlikely to be a limiting factor for bull sharks in the future. Such a southerly shift in distribution has implications for the management of bull sharks both in commercial fisheries and for mitigation of shark-human interactions.


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