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Hierarchical random walks in trace fossils and the origin of optimal search behavior

Hierarchical random walks in trace fossils and the origin of optimal search behavior
Hierarchical random walks in trace fossils and the origin of optimal search behavior
Efficient searching is crucial for timely location of food and other resources. Recent studies show that diverse living animals use a theoretically optimal scale-free random search for sparse resources known as a Lévy walk, but little is known of the origins and evolution of foraging behavior and the search strategies of extinct organisms. Here, using simulations of self-avoiding trace fossil trails, we show that randomly introduced strophotaxis (U-turns)—initiated by obstructions such as self-trail avoidance or innate cueing—leads to random looping patterns with clustering across increasing scales that is consistent with the presence of Lévy walks. This predicts that optimal Lévy searches may emerge from simple behaviors observed in fossil trails. We then analyzed fossilized trails of benthic marine organisms by using a novel path analysis technique and find the first evidence, to our knowledge, of Lévy-like search strategies in extinct animals. Our results show that simple search behaviors of extinct animals in heterogeneous environments give rise to hierarchically nested Brownian walk clusters that converge to optimal Lévy patterns. Primary productivity collapse and large-scale food scarcity characterizing mass extinctions evident in the fossil record may have triggered adaptation of optimal Lévy-like searches. The findings suggest that Lévy-like behavior has been used by foragers since at least the Eocene but may have a more ancient origin, which might explain recent widespread observations of such patterns among modern taxa.
0027-8424
11073-11078
Sims, D.W.
7234b444-25e2-4bd5-8348-a1c142d0cf81
Reynolds, A.M.
760cb232-6d6c-439a-b26b-9f3a7f30ebc5
Humphries, N.E.
4cfb2dc9-9f0b-4be9-943e-dfa9ce9225fc
Southall, E.J.
c34cff1a-3d01-4ec0-8a78-2b7c07ea4920
Wearmouth, V.J.
61021c4d-d838-45c7-918f-f8ade4f9d895
Metcalfe, B.
da914351-1816-4fd4-bb55-c15ffeaba2f8
Twitchett, R.J.
7bf57105-256a-4d9e-866f-166b53438768
Sims, D.W.
7234b444-25e2-4bd5-8348-a1c142d0cf81
Reynolds, A.M.
760cb232-6d6c-439a-b26b-9f3a7f30ebc5
Humphries, N.E.
4cfb2dc9-9f0b-4be9-943e-dfa9ce9225fc
Southall, E.J.
c34cff1a-3d01-4ec0-8a78-2b7c07ea4920
Wearmouth, V.J.
61021c4d-d838-45c7-918f-f8ade4f9d895
Metcalfe, B.
da914351-1816-4fd4-bb55-c15ffeaba2f8
Twitchett, R.J.
7bf57105-256a-4d9e-866f-166b53438768

Sims, D.W., Reynolds, A.M., Humphries, N.E., Southall, E.J., Wearmouth, V.J., Metcalfe, B. and Twitchett, R.J. (2014) Hierarchical random walks in trace fossils and the origin of optimal search behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111 (30), 11073-11078. (doi:10.1073/pnas.1405966111).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Efficient searching is crucial for timely location of food and other resources. Recent studies show that diverse living animals use a theoretically optimal scale-free random search for sparse resources known as a Lévy walk, but little is known of the origins and evolution of foraging behavior and the search strategies of extinct organisms. Here, using simulations of self-avoiding trace fossil trails, we show that randomly introduced strophotaxis (U-turns)—initiated by obstructions such as self-trail avoidance or innate cueing—leads to random looping patterns with clustering across increasing scales that is consistent with the presence of Lévy walks. This predicts that optimal Lévy searches may emerge from simple behaviors observed in fossil trails. We then analyzed fossilized trails of benthic marine organisms by using a novel path analysis technique and find the first evidence, to our knowledge, of Lévy-like search strategies in extinct animals. Our results show that simple search behaviors of extinct animals in heterogeneous environments give rise to hierarchically nested Brownian walk clusters that converge to optimal Lévy patterns. Primary productivity collapse and large-scale food scarcity characterizing mass extinctions evident in the fossil record may have triggered adaptation of optimal Lévy-like searches. The findings suggest that Lévy-like behavior has been used by foragers since at least the Eocene but may have a more ancient origin, which might explain recent widespread observations of such patterns among modern taxa.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 19 June 2014
e-pub ahead of print date: 14 July 2014
Published date: 2014
Organisations: Ocean and Earth Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 368496
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/368496
ISSN: 0027-8424
PURE UUID: 5f9b694f-7be4-4868-ba32-d4e1ffe99e4a
ORCID for D.W. Sims: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0916-7363

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Date deposited: 01 Sep 2014 12:57
Last modified: 19 Jun 2024 01:44

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Contributors

Author: D.W. Sims ORCID iD
Author: A.M. Reynolds
Author: N.E. Humphries
Author: E.J. Southall
Author: V.J. Wearmouth
Author: B. Metcalfe
Author: R.J. Twitchett

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