A Sensory-Driven Trade-Off between Coordinated Motion in Social Prey and a Predator's Visual Confusion

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Ecology
• Collective Animal Behavior
• Predator-Prey Dynamics

Background:

• Social animals utilize neighbor awareness for predator detection and confusion.
• Sensory benefits in groups are known, but prey-predator perception interactions are less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how visual sensory mechanisms influence prey collective motion.
• To determine the impact of prey movement on predator confusion and capture ability.

Main Methods:

• A virtual prey targeting game with human players.
• Measurement of prey coordination, predator attack speed, and accuracy.
• Manipulation of prey neighbor visibility to isolate visual confusion effects.

Main Results:

• Increased prey coordination positively correlated with predator attack speed and accuracy.
• Prey organization at the start of an attack decreased accuracy compared to self-organization.
• Neighboring prey motion influenced capture delays, while target motion affected accuracy.

Conclusions:

• Prey collective motion influences predator capture dynamics, with a trade-off between group benefits and individual risk.
• Visual confusion from coordinated prey can delay capture but does not guarantee accuracy.
• Group living offers advantages despite increased personal predation risk.