Visual Ecology
Thomas W. Cronin, Sönke Johnsen, N. Justin Marshall, and Eric J. Warrant
Abstract
Visual ecology is the study of how animals use visual systems to meet their ecological needs, how these systems have evolved, and how they are specialized for particular visual tasks. This book provides the first up-to-date synthesis of the field to appear in more than three decades. Featuring some 225 illustrations, including more than 140 in color, spread throughout the text, the book begins by discussing the basic properties of light and the optical environment. It then looks at how photoreceptors intercept light and convert it to usable biological signals, how the pigments and cells of vis ... More
Visual ecology is the study of how animals use visual systems to meet their ecological needs, how these systems have evolved, and how they are specialized for particular visual tasks. This book provides the first up-to-date synthesis of the field to appear in more than three decades. Featuring some 225 illustrations, including more than 140 in color, spread throughout the text, the book begins by discussing the basic properties of light and the optical environment. It then looks at how photoreceptors intercept light and convert it to usable biological signals, how the pigments and cells of vision vary among animals, and how the properties of these components affect a given receptor's sensitivity to light. The book goes on to examine how eyes and photoreceptors become specialized for an array of visual tasks, such as navigation, evading prey, mate choice, and communication. A timely and much-needed resource for students and researchers alike, the book also includes a glossary and a wealth of examples drawn from the full diversity of visual systems.
Keywords:
visual ecology,
visual systems,
photoreceptors,
light sensitivity,
vision,
eyes,
optical environment
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780691151847 |
| Published to Princeton Scholarship Online: October 2017 |
DOI:10.23943/princeton/9780691151847.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Thomas W. Cronin, author
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Sönke Johnsen, author
Duke University
N. Justin Marshall, author
University of Queensland
Eric J. Warrant, author
University of Lund
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