The special editors for this feature issue will be Barbara Finlay and Daniel Osorio:

• Visual and motor systems evolved to enable an organism to interact with its environment. The design of these systems should reflect the natural tasks performed by the organism in its immediate environment, for instance, the unique pressures of specific environments (e.g., aquatic, terrestrial) and behavioral niches (e.g., predation, foraging, social communication). Species-general features of the retina and visual pathway, by contrast, may be indicative of more universal pressures associated with visual scene analysis.

  The aim of this special issue was to bring together comparative analyses of visual system development, design, and function that elucidate our greater understanding of the behavioral ecology of species-specific and species-general design features and, ultimately, may shed light on their evolution. Research on developmental and epigenetic paths that integrate species-typical features with species-general requirements is of particular interest. We seek contributions that include (but are not limited to) topics such as coding of color, motion, and form in the context of behavioral ecology; mimicry, camouflage, and sensory exploitation; developmental strategies that are robust to changing size, niche, and behavioral goals over the life span; consideration of visual system plasticity in an evolutionary context; and how specific visual signals with an innate motivational component (e.g., fear; faces, mating signals) are integrated into general visual function.

Instructions

Manuscripts should be submitted online, prepared in accord with the instructions for contributors at the journal Web site (http://www.journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=VNS). Manuscripts will be subjected to peer review under the editorial guidance of Barbara Finlay (blf2@cornell.edu) and Daniel Osorio (d.osorio@sussex.ac.uk). While the focus of the feature issue is on original research, proposals for reviews or perspectives will also be considered.

Further questions about manuscript submissions and the review process can be directed to the Editor-in-Chief of Visual Neuroscience, Benjamin Reese (vns@lifesci.ucsb.edu).