Vision is one of the best ways of getting real time information about your surroundings. Animals use visual signals, including movement, to affect each other’s behavior and communication. But there is limited information about how different environmental factors, such as weather and light conditions, affects an animal’s ability to see these signals – and therefore how and why different signals evolve.
In collaboration with Dr Richard Peters (La Trobe University) we are using 3D animation to model how effective motion signals are in different situations. Experiments have been carried out by drawing on knowledge and data to generate microhabitats and different environmental conditions.