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Published on: July 21, 2014
Mechanisms of recognition in birds and social Hymenoptera: from detection to information processing
Natacha Rossi1, Sébastien Derégnaucourt2
1Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, University of Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 avenue J.-B., Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France.
Abstract:
In this opinion piece, we briefly review our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying auditory individual recognition in birds and chemical nest-mate recognition in social Hymenoptera. We argue that even though detection and perception of recognition cues are well studied in social Hymenoptera, the neural mechanisms remain a black box. We compare our knowledge of these insect systems with that of the well-studied avian 'song control system'. We suggest that future studies on recognition should focus on the hypothesis of a distributed template instead of trying to locate the seat of the template as recent results do not seem to point in that direction. This article is part of the theme issue 'Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests'.
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