Objectively identifying landmark use and predicting flight trajectories of the homing pigeon using Gaussian processes.
J R Soc Interface
; 8(55): 210-9, 2011 Feb 06.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20656739
Pigeons home along idiosyncratic habitual routes from familiar locations. It has been suggested that memorized visual landmarks underpin this route learning. However, the inability to experimentally alter the landscape on large scales has hindered the discovery of the particular features to which birds attend. Here, we present a method for objectively classifying the most informative regions of animal paths. We apply this method to flight trajectories from homing pigeons to identify probable locations of salient visual landmarks. We construct and apply a Gaussian process model of flight trajectory generation for pigeons trained to home from specific release sites. The model shows increasing predictive power as the birds become familiar with the sites, mirroring the animal's learning process. We subsequently find that the most informative elements of the flight trajectories coincide with landscape features that have previously been suggested as important components of the homing task.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Orientación
/
Columbidae
/
Señales (Psicología)
/
Vuelo Animal
/
Fenómenos de Retorno al Lugar Habitual
/
Modelos Teóricos
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Animals
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J R Soc Interface
Año:
2011
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido