OPTIMIZING DISTAL LANDMARKS - HORIZONTAL VERSUS VERTICAL STRUCTURES AND RELATION TO BACKGROUND

During hoarding excursions, golden hamsters use distal landmarks and d ead reckoning (updated signals derived from locomotion) to find their way back from a food source al the centre of a circular arena to their nest at the periphery. The preference for particular landmarks was as sessed by setting landmark panoramas in conflict with dead reckoning. The hamsters tended to prefer horizontal landmarks to vertical ones wh en these landmarks were presented alone. However, in combination with a continuous background pattern including a single apex, vertical land marks were more effective than horizontal ones. A panorama consisting of a vertical cylinder or bar and the background pattern was optimal p rovided the vertical landmark was aligned or superimposed on the apex of the background. The impact of a landmark panorama therefore depends on its particular components as well as on their mutual relationship.