Subterranean Fishes of the World

5159

2018

Animal Behaviour

339-47

142

Highlights • We review work on 3D spatial learning in species with different locomotory styles. • Walking species are less accurate at learning vertical than horizontal information. • Findings in flying and swimming species' appear mixed. • We propose spatial cues, senses, energetic demand and niche shape spatial learning. • We recommend increasing the variety and number of species studied in future work. The degree of three-dimensional movement exhibited by animals depends, in part, on their style of locomotion. For example, surface-bound animals such as humans are always in contact with the ground and, consequently, their travel in the vertical dimension is largely dictated by the topography of the terrain. In contrast, nonsurface-bound (flying and swimming) animals can move equally in all three dimensions. Research from the last 20 years has indicated that many animals learn and remember information about the vertical and horizontal dimensions with different degrees of accuracy, and that this may be influenced by their style of locomotion; however, there has been no overview to determine whether these differences follow general patterns and there have been few attempts to explain the reasons behind them. The aims of this article are twofold. First, we review the literature on vertical and horizontal navigation, comparing the relative accuracy of these processes in surface-bound and nonsurface-bound animals, and critically appraising the key contributing factors. Second, we hope to establish a framework to help direct researchers interested in the effects of locomotory style on navigation to areas of the field where data are lacking or where there have been contradictory findings that need to be resolved. We suggest that as there are currently few studies investigating three-dimensional navigation, the field would benefit from more studies in a larger variety of species, in particular flying and swimming species that nest and forage on the ground or in the benthic zone and arboreal surface-bound animals that must regularly move in three dimensions through the canopy. This will enable us to determine whether real differences in spatial learning exist between animals exhibiting different styles of locomotion and, if differences do exist, allow us to establish general principles that can explain these differences in spatial learning between species.

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