ArticleThe Journal of experimental biology2021
California sea lions employ task-specific strategies for active touch sensing.
Article in The Journal of experimental biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Describing the whiskers of a semi-aquatic caniform: the Eurasian Otter (Journal of mammalogy · 2026Article
- Head and Whisker Behaviours Observed During Foraging in Northern Elephant Seals (Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Vibrissal sensing in mammals in a changing world.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Review
- Can we study whisker movements to gain insights into the natural sensory behaviours of mammals?The Journal of physiology · 2025Review
- Sensitivity of the mystacial vibrissal system of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) to size differences of single vortex rings.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- Describing the musculature of mystacial pads in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) using diceCT.Journal of anatomy · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Active sensing is the process of moving sensors to extract task-specific information. Whisker touch is often referred to as an active sensory system as whiskers are moved with purposeful control. Even though whisker movements are found in many species, it is unknown whether any animal can make task-specific movements with their whiskers. California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) make large, purposeful whisker movements and are capable of performing many whisker-related discrimination tasks. Therefore, California sea lions are an ideal species to explore the active nature of whisker touch sensing. Here, we show that California sea lions can make task-specific whisker movements. California sea lions move their whiskers with large amplitudes around object edges to judge size, make smaller, lateral stroking movements to judge texture and make very small whisker movements during a visual task. These findings, combined with the ease of training mammals and measuring whisker movements, makes whiskers an ideal system for studying mammalian perception, cognition and motor control.
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