Responsive robotic prey reveal how predators adapt to predictability in escape tactics

Andrew W Szopa-Comley, Christos C Ioannou

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
69 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A widespread strategy used by prey animals, seen in insects, mammals, amphibians, crustaceans, fish, and reptiles, is to vary the direction in which they escape when attacked by a predator. This unpredictability is thought to benefit prey by inhibiting predators from predicting the prey's escape trajectory, but experimental evidence is lacking. Using fish predators repeatedly tested with interactive, robot-controlled prey escaping in the same (predictable) or in random (unpredictable) directions, we find no clear benefit to prey of escaping unpredictably, driven by behavioral counteradaptation by the predators. The benefit of unpredictable escape behavior may depend on whether predators are able to counteract prey escape tactics by flexibly modifying their behavior, or unpredictability may instead be explained biomechanical or sensory constraints.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2117858119
Pages (from-to)e2117858119
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume119
Issue number23
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jun 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Robert Heathcote and Darren Croft for providing the parents of the fish used in this study, Peter Gardiner at the University of Bristol Animal Services Unit for his help caring for the fish, Alexandre Campo at Université Libre de Bruxelles for advice on how to program the robots, and Robert Heathcote for comments on the manuscript. We also thank the editors and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. This work was supported by a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership studentship (NE/L002434/1) awarded to A.W.S.-C. and a NERC Independent Research Fellowship (NE/K009370/1) and a Leverhulme Trust grant (RPG-2017-041 V) awarded to C.C.I.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 the Author(s).

Keywords

  • Animals
  • Escape Reaction
  • Mammals
  • Predatory Behavior
  • Robotics

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