Theory 11/Navigation
Homing Needs an Imprint Window
The claim
Salmon homing fidelity is set by the ratio of the imprinting window to migration duration, so a fish that imprints late cannot resolve its natal stream on return.
01Mechanism
Olfactory imprinting occurs during a narrow developmental window; the memory must be laid down before migration and remain stable for years.
02Predictions
- P1Fidelity should track the ratio.
- P2Migration distance alone should mispredict.
03Refutation
Fidelity tracking river size would remove the timing window.
04Why it resists the grid
A memory formed in one life stage governs behaviour in a later one, across an ocean and several years.