Sensory modalities in depth perception by golden hamsters.
Golden hamsters are able to detect differences in the height of a platform from which they jump, as measured by their increasing latencies prior to jumping from increased elevations. This ability is very effective when optical information is available, but it is also present when hamsters jump in total darkness. A second experiment shows that, when hamsters are placed on a real physical cliff, they preferentially use tactile information over visual information to guide their choice of the side from which to descend. In a nonvisual setting, tactile stimulation is used in conjunction with other types of cues. Evidence is provided to suggest that these cues are of an acoustical nature.
D000818:Animals; D006224:Cricetinae; D003463:Cues; D003623:Dark Adaptation; D003867:Depth Perception; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D012677:Sensation; D014110:Touch; D014796:Visual Perception