Emergent Sensing of Complex Environments by Mobile Animal Groups

The Power of the Collective Sensing the environment is generally considered to require significant cognitive sampling and comparison, not to mention time. However, species that do not necessarily have the cognitive ability, or the time, have also proven to be quite adept at sensing and evaluating their environment. Berdahl et al. (p. 574 ) show that in shiners, a species of schooling fish, mere attraction to, and movement toward, neighboring individuals allows the group to track preferred darkness in a variable-light environment.