Movement signal choreography unaffected by receiver distance in the Australian Jacky lizard, Amphibolurus muricatus

Peters, Richard; Allen, S. J.

doi:10.1007/s00265-009-0754-1

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(26 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These adjustments serve to vary the active space of the signal and have been shown to vary in the movement-based displays of other taxa (How et al 2008 ). However, Peters and Allen ( 2009 ) demonstrated that A. muricatus do not adjust tail displays in this way in response to receiver distances. Amplitude variability was a feature of each tail flicking sequence, but amplitudes were (almost) always greater than push-ups in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Properties of an attention-grabbing motion signal: a comparison of tail and body movements in a lizard

Peters

Ramos

2022

J Comp Physiol A

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animals signals must be detected by receiver sensory systems, and overcome a variety of local ecological factors that could otherwise affect their transmission and reception. Habitat structure, competition, avoidance of unintended receivers and varying environmental conditions have all been shown to influence how animals signal. Environmental noise is also crucial, and animals modify their behavior in response to it. Animals generating movement-based visual signals have to contend with wind-blown plants that generate motion noise and can affect the detection of salient movements. The lizard Amphibolurus muricatus uses tail flicking at the start of displays to attract attention, and we hypothesized that tail movements are ideally suited to this function. We compared visual amplitudes generated by tail movements with push-ups, which are a key component of the rest of the display. We show that tail movement amplitudes are highly variable over the course of the display but consistently greater than amplitudes generated by push-ups and not constrained by viewing position. We suggest that these features, combined with the tail being a light structure that does not compromise other activities, provide an ideal introductory component for attracting attention in the ecological setting in which they are generated.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Properties of an attention-grabbing motion signal: a comparison of tail and body movements in a lizard

Peters

Ramos

2022

J Comp Physiol A

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ord & Stamps (2008) demonstrated that A. gundlachi is more likely to use high-amplitude motion patterns at the beginning of their display when the receiver is several metres away, particularly in viewing conditions where detection is more difficult. On the other hand, in the only direct experimental test of this idea on a lizard, Peters & Allen (2009) found that Jacky lizards (A. muricatus) make no change in threat display amplitude based on the distance to an intruder. Clearly, the influence of receiver distance on display amplitude merits further study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motion perception and visual signal design in Anolis lizards

Fleishman

Pallus

2010

Proc. R. Soc. B.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anolis lizards communicate with displays consisting of motion of the head and body. Early portions of long-distance displays require movements that are effective at eliciting the attention of potential receivers. We studied signal-motion efficacy using a two-dimensional visual-motion detection (2DMD) model consisting of a grid of correlation-type elementary motion detectors. This 2DMD model has been shown to accurately predict Anolis lizard behavioural response. We tested different patterns of artificially generated motion and found that an abrupt 0.38 shift of position in less than 100 ms is optimal. We quantified motion in displays of 25 individuals from five species. Four species employ near-optimal movement patterns. We tested displays of these species using the 2DMD model on scenes with and without moderate wind. Display movements can easily be detected, even in the presence of windblown vegetation. The fifth species does not typically use the most effective display movements and display movements cannot be discerned by the 2DMD model in the presence of windblown vegetation. A number of Anolis species use abrupt up-and-down head movements approximately 10 mm in amplitude in displays, and these movements appear to be extremely effective for stimulating the receiver visual system.

show abstract

“…The animated lizard was scaled to be life-sized as viewed from three meters. Both the subject scaling and distance was selected based on the appropriate measures for scaling that continued to elicit responses from typical distances between individuals in the wild (Peters, 2013;Peters & Allen, 2009;Peters et al, 2008). Each type of background was placed in the backdrop of each of the three display animation sequences (see Phases 1 and 2 for background descriptions).…”

Section: Animation Sequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Signal Competition in Dynamic Visual Environments: Relative Conspicuousness of Social Displays in the Jacky Dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus)

Woo¹

2021

AB&C

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Selection for conspicuousness has been an important force on visual signal design. Although signal efficacy has been extensively studied in acoustic systems, few studies have examined this attribute in dynamic visual signals. Here, I simulated signal competition between Jacky lizards (Amphibolurus muricatus) by presenting the motor patterns (tail-flick, push-up body rock, and slow arm wave) in isolation that are typically used in social communication. Phase 1 used four digital video playback systems to present simultaneous animated display combinations on opposing monitors to a subject that was situated in the middle, and measured orientation towards the monitors and latency to respond. Phase 2 maintained the same set-up and simultaneous display combinations, but tested signal conspicuousness across three levels of visual noise (calm, typical, and windy) simulated by the movement of windblown vegetation in the background. The results suggest that the most conspicuous visual display is the tail-flick, followed by the push-up body rock, and the slow arm wave is the least conspicuous. Moreover, this relationship is robust across the full range of environmental wind conditions. No significant side biases in orientation to displays were detected, which suggested no lateralization in perceptual processes. Jacky lizard display motor patterns which address distinct functional requirements: the tail flick is an ideal alerting component, with high efficacy over a range of signaling conditions. The push-up body rock, which is used only in aggressive displays, has a more restricted range, and the submissive slow arm wave is likely designed to appease nearby dominant males.

show abstract

Movement signal choreography unaffected by receiver distance in the Australian Jacky lizard, Amphibolurus muricatus

Cited by 6 publications

References 26 publications

Properties of an attention-grabbing motion signal: a comparison of tail and body movements in a lizard

Properties of an attention-grabbing motion signal: a comparison of tail and body movements in a lizard

Motion perception and visual signal design in Anolis lizards

Signal Competition in Dynamic Visual Environments: Relative Conspicuousness of Social Displays in the Jacky Dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About