Dr Misha Vorobyev

DipPhys Leningrad
PhD USSR Acad. Sci.

Contact details
Building 503, Room 369
85 Park Road
Grafton

Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 86591
Email: m.vorobyev@auckland.ac.nz

The main theme of my research is the relationship between colour vision systems and colourful patterns of plant and animals. I use psychophysical methods to study colour vision of man and animals. To understand the ecological significance of diversity of colour vision systems I combine mathematical modelling with measuring spectra of biologically important objects - flowers, fruits, birds’ plumage and fish skin.

My studies, published since 1996 in 56 papers, have attracted over 1700 citations (280 citations in 2009; ISI h-index: 22; average citations per paper: 30).

• Chromatic and achromatic vision birds and fish
• Insect colour vision in relation to flower colours
• Ecological relevance of primate colour vision
• Neural noise and encoding of visual information

• Fischer L., Zvyagin A., Plakhotnik T, Vorobyev M. (2010) Numerical modeling of light propagation in a hexagonal array of dielectric cylinders. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 27: 865-872.
• Pignatelli V., Champ C., Marshall J., Vorobyev M. (2010) Double cones are used for colour discrimination in the reef fish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus. Biology Letters (published online 03.02.2010 doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.1010)
• Cassey P., Ewen J.G., Marshall J., Vorobyev M., Blackburn T.M., Hauber M. (2009) Are avian eggshell colours effective intraspecific communication signals in the Muscicapoidea? A perceptual modelling approach. Ibis: 151:689-698
• Ganeshina O and Vorobyev M (2009) A contractile cochlear frame is a common feature of the hearing organs in Gekkota (Sauria, Squamata). A comparative study. Brain Behaviour and Evolution 74:87-101.
• Hiramatsu C, Melin AD, Aureli F, Schaffner CM, Vorobyev M, Kawamura S (2009) Interplay of olfaction and vision in fruit foraging of spider monkeys. Animal Behaviour 77:1421-1426.