Publication at Faculty of Science |
2009
Abstract
It has been shown that “eye-like” concentric structures with a central pupil are much more convincing than simple rings without a central spot. Because some imitations of the eyes (i.e., eyespots or fake eyes) play the same semantic role as real eyes, it has been proposed that they should be regarded as homosemiotic.
Only those eye imitations that are mistaken for real eyes – that is, those that gain the same meaning as real eyes in the umwelt of a particular animal interpreter – may be further perfected in evolution, for example, by selection on the part of an avian predator.