TY - JOUR
T1 - Sensory modulation and behavioral choice during feeding in the Australian frog, Cyclorana novaehollandiae
AU - Valdez, C. M.
AU - Nishikawa, K. C.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements We wish to thank James O’Reilly for help with motion analysis and Randy Scott for providing advice on the discriminant function analyses. Helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript were provided by Curtis Anderson, Michael Arbib, Renee Benally, James Birch, Lucie Gray, James O’Reilly and Peter Wainwright. Robin O’Reilly helped with preparation of figures. This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (IBN-9211310 and IBN-9507479) and the Minority Biomedical Research Support Program of the National Institutes of Health to K.C.N., and by a Research Experiences for Undergraduates assistantship to Cynthia Valdez. The experiments were conducted in accordance with NIH publication No. 85–23, ‘‘Principles of laboratory animal care’’ and with the approval of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.
PY - 1997/3
Y1 - 1997/3
N2 - This study investigates how visual and tactile sensory information, as well as biomechanical effects due to differences in physical characteristics of the prey, influence feeding behavior in the frog Cyclorana novaehollandiae. Video motion analysis was used to quantify movement patterns produced when feeding on five prey types (termites, waxworms, crickets, mice and earthworms). Twelve kinematic variables differed significantly among prey types, and twelve variables were correlated with prey characteristics (including mass, length, height and velocity of movement). Results indicate that C. novaehollandiae uses a different strategy to capture each prey type. Visual assessment of prey characteristics appeared to be more important in modulating feeding behavior than tactile cues or biomechanical effects. We propose a hierarchical hypothesis of behavioral choice, in which decisions are based primarily on visual analysis of prey characteristics. In this model, the frogs first choose between jaw prehension and tongue prehension based on prey size. If they have chosen jaw prehension, they next choose between upward or downward bead rotation based on length and height of the prey. If they have chosen tongue prehension, they next choose between behavior for fast and slow prey. Final decisions may be the result of behavioral fine tuning based on tactile feedback.
AB - This study investigates how visual and tactile sensory information, as well as biomechanical effects due to differences in physical characteristics of the prey, influence feeding behavior in the frog Cyclorana novaehollandiae. Video motion analysis was used to quantify movement patterns produced when feeding on five prey types (termites, waxworms, crickets, mice and earthworms). Twelve kinematic variables differed significantly among prey types, and twelve variables were correlated with prey characteristics (including mass, length, height and velocity of movement). Results indicate that C. novaehollandiae uses a different strategy to capture each prey type. Visual assessment of prey characteristics appeared to be more important in modulating feeding behavior than tactile cues or biomechanical effects. We propose a hierarchical hypothesis of behavioral choice, in which decisions are based primarily on visual analysis of prey characteristics. In this model, the frogs first choose between jaw prehension and tongue prehension based on prey size. If they have chosen jaw prehension, they next choose between upward or downward bead rotation based on length and height of the prey. If they have chosen tongue prehension, they next choose between behavior for fast and slow prey. Final decisions may be the result of behavioral fine tuning based on tactile feedback.
KW - Behavioral choice
KW - Feeding behavior
KW - Sensory modulation
KW - Tactile cues
KW - Visual guidance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0031106333&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0031106333&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s003590050040
DO - 10.1007/s003590050040
M3 - Article
C2 - 9048439
AN - SCOPUS:0031106333
SN - 0340-7594
VL - 180
SP - 187
EP - 202
JO - Journal of Comparative Physiology - A Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
JF - Journal of Comparative Physiology - A Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
IS - 3
ER -