Sensory Perception

Question 1

What is sensory ecology?

Answer 1

the study of the sensory systems of animals to understand how they perceive their environment and how this affects their interactions with the environment

Question 2

What is Umwelt

Answer 2

Umwelt = the sum total of all sensory information processed by the animals nervous system daily

Question 3

What does ultra describe?

Answer 3

Stimuli above the human ability (i.e: ULTRAviolet)

Question 4

What does infra describe?

Answer 4

Stimuli below the human ability (i.e: INFRAred)

Question 5

What do lateral lines detect in fish and shark?

Answer 5

Detect changes in movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water.

Question 6

How do organisms react to the environment?

Answer 6

Physical stimulus triggers
Sensory system, causing
Motor systems, leading to
Behaviour

Question 7

What is the human visible light spectrum?

Answer 7

700nm to 400nm (colours of the rainbow)

Question 8

What receptors detect light/ vision?

Answer 8

Photoreceptors

Question 9

What classes as infrared light?

Answer 9

Electromagnetic wavelengths below 400nm

Question 10

When do objects emit infrared light?

Answer 10

when they are warmer than their environment

Question 11

How do Pit Vipers (snakes) detect infrared light?

Answer 11

They have a special pit on their head that contains infrared sensitive receptors in membranes (detects heat) - allows them to ambush infrared-emitting prey (warm blooded creatures)

Question 12

What animals can see UV light?

Answer 12

Butterflies
Birds
Bees

Question 13

How are bees attracted to flowers?

Answer 13

Under UV light, flowers exhibit patterns of light and dark that guide bees to the nectar

Question 14

What classes as infra sound?

Answer 14

below 20Hz

Question 15

What classes as ultra sound?

Answer 15

above 20,00o Hz

Question 16

What’s the peak of human hearing?

Answer 16

2000 - 4000 Hz

Question 17

How do some animals feel sound?

Answer 17

They detect vibrations in the environment using vibration-detecting structures.

Vibrations travel through substrate or air/ water around them.

Question 18

What are frequencies?

Answer 18

The number of vibrations per second, measured in Hz

Question 19

What is ecolocation?

Answer 19

A physiological process for locating distant or invisible objects (such as prey) by means of sound waves reflected back to the emitter (such as a bat) by the objects

Question 20

What frequency can bats detect with ecolocation?

Answer 20

10,000 - 200,000 Hz

Question 21

How long does a single bat call last

Answer 21

a few milliseconds

Question 22

How does ecolocation help bats detect food?

Answer 22

High freq. sounds do not travel far
They reflect off solid objects including very small ones
This allows bats to detect small targets from the echoes that reflect from the object (by making bat call sounds via the mouth/ nose)

Question 23

What do lateral lines in fish do?

Answer 23

Detect changes in pressure around the fish to locate prey, aid shoaling etc

Question 24

What does the ampullae of lorenzini do?

Answer 24

Detects changes in water temperature through electroreception

Question 25

What are the ampullae of lorenzini + what animals are they found in?

Answer 25

electrorecepting organ

Each ampulla is a bundle of sensory cells containing multiple nerve fibres and a jelly-filled canal opening.

found in sharks, skates, rays and cartilaginous fish