Figure 1.

A Conceptual Timeline of Events during Escape Behaviour. Illustrations of a mouse (top) and fish (bottom) at different time points during an escape response away from a predator and towards a refuge (from left to right). Prior knowledge (0): learning experiences, such as previous encounters with predators, influence escape behaviour. This prior knowledge is updated constantly throughout the life of the animal (5) and can modulate each part of the escape sequence. Threat detection (1): the animal detects a sensory stimulus and must evaluate whether it is a potential predatory threat. This can be done through specialised innate detection pathways or learning processes, and includes behaviours that facilitate threat assessment, such as freezing. Escape initiation (2): once a stimulus is considered to be threatening, the decision and timing of escape depend on trade-offs such as the presence of nearby desirable resources, and variables such as the availability and distance to shelter. Escape execution (3): in environments that are spatially simple, animals accelerate and flee away from the threat, and often in a straight trajectory towards shelter. Escape is however a dynamic process that can take into account properties of the threat and of the local surroundings. Escape termination (4): the escape action terminates when the animal has reached safety, either by increasing the distance from the threat source or by arriving at the shelter location.