Meeting Abstract
Once prey is detected, survival depends on out-running, out-manoeuvring, or fighting off the predator. Though predation attempts involve at least two individuals—namely, a predator and its prey—studies of escape performance typically measure a single trait (e.g. sprint speed) in the prey species only. Recently, a theoretical model of escape success was developed that is based on the relative performance of prey versus predator with regards to their acceleration, top speed, agility and deceleration. The model suggests acceleration, top speed, and agility are all important determinants of running performance along curved paths, and that prey with higher agilities should exploit their higher performances along curved paths to outrun predators. This model is based on the premise that the relative importance of acceleration, top speed and agility changes with increasing path curviness. Here, we test this mathematical model using analyses of human performance when running along paths of varied curvature.
