THE UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL ECOLOGY OF VISION RESEARCH GROUP
We are an internationally leading vision research group which focus on visually guided behaviours and the impacts of artificial light. We study how animal vision functions across a wide range of species, including crustaceans, insects, fish and cephalopods. A particular strength of the group is discovering new optical principles behind ways animals manipulate light and understanding how and why vision and animal optics have evolved.
Our research group consists of a mix of biologists, physicists and engineers. This allows us to successfully follow cross-disciplinary approaches in our research. A full list of current group members can be found here.
New Papers from the group:
Derup, C., Herbet-Read, J.E., and How, M.J. 2025. Motion After-Effects Induced by Dynamic Illumination in Crab Vision. Ecology and Evolution15:e71426. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71426
Santon, M., Troscianko, J., Heatubun, C. and How, M.J., 2025. Stealth and deception: adaptive motion camouflage in hunting broadclub cuttlefish. Science Advances, 11(13) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adr3686
Williams, S.T., Heyworth, S.M., Kano, Y., Roberts, N.W., Carter, H.F. and Cheney, K.L., 2025. The blue advantage: a novel blue carotenoprotein pigment in the tropical seastar Linckia laevigata is an antioxidant defence against extreme environmental stress. Marine Biology, 172(2), p.31.
How, M.J., van den Berg, C., Karcz, M., Heatubun, C. and Santon, M., 2025. Multiple hunting displays in wild broadclub cuttlefish. Ecology, 106(2), p.e70021.
Smithers, S.P., Brett, M.F., How, M.J., Scott-Samuel, N.E., and Roberts, N.W. 2024 Fiddler crabs (Afruca tangeri) detect second-order motion in both intensity and polarization Communications Biology 7:1255 https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06953-5
Wainwright, J. Benito, et al. "Mutualisms within light microhabitats drive sensory convergence in a mimetic butterfly community." bioRxiv (2024): 2024-08.
Drerup, Christian, et al. "Cuttlefish adopt disruptive camouflage under dynamic lighting." Current Biology 2024. 34 (14), 3258-3264. e5
Recent Papers from the group:
Field Work Sites where we do research:
Much of the research work we undertake is experimental field work. We use field sites in the Pyrenees, Spain, Panama and the coral reefs off Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The video below shows us heading out to Horseshoe Reef just off Lizard Island where we were setting up remote polarization cameras.
