Self-motion signals let mammals integrate a path back home

Correct: B — Animals continuously update position by integrating self-motion signals (vestibular, proprioceptive, optic flow), enabling near-straight homing even without visible landmarks

Etienne & Jeffery (2004) synthesized decades of evidence — from desert ants to rodents to humans — that mammals maintain a running estimate of their position relative to a starting point by integrating self-motion signals: vestibular cues for rotation, proprioceptive and motor-efference signals for translation, and optic flow when available. After foraging excursions through twisting paths, animals can return home in a near-straight line even in darkness or unfamiliar terrain. Hippocampal and entorhinal lesions, especially to grid-cell circuitry, disrupt path integration over distance and time, linking the behavioral signature to a now-well-mapped neural substrate.