Multiple Cue Use in Animals

• Author / Creator

  Legge, Eric LG

• Animals often redundantly encode multiple cues to aid in navigation and goal localization. While encoding multiple cues can help animals navigate and localize goals, (e.g., using multiple cues can increase an animals' search accuracy and robustness), encoding multiple cues can also create problems when one or more cues become displaced. In such situations, the displaced cue(s) provide information that conflicts with other nearby cues (creating what is commonly referred to as cue conflict). Cue conflict is not uncommon in the natural world, as many animals use small, easily displaced objects as landmarks for localizing goals. As such, animals have developed a number of strategies to cope with cue conflict, and here I report four studies that investigates the use of these strategies in both pigeons (Columba livia) and desert ants (Melophrous bagoti). Overall, I report evidence that suggests both pigeons and desert ants can utilize similar strategies to resolve cue conflict, even when these strategies are complex.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Ants
  • Spatial localization
  • Multiple cue use in animals
  • Cue use
  • Pigeons

• Graduation date

  Fall 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3VQ2SN2M

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.