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Main Authors: Rueda-Toicen, Antonio, Martin, Abigail Allen, Morozov, Daniil, Mahmood, Matin, Schild, Alexandra, Dayani, Shahabeddin, Panza, Davide, de Melo, Gerard
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.09690
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author Rueda-Toicen, Antonio
Martin, Abigail Allen
Morozov, Daniil
Mahmood, Matin
Schild, Alexandra
Dayani, Shahabeddin
Panza, Davide
de Melo, Gerard
author_facet Rueda-Toicen, Antonio
Martin, Abigail Allen
Morozov, Daniil
Mahmood, Matin
Schild, Alexandra
Dayani, Shahabeddin
Panza, Davide
de Melo, Gerard
contents Jaguar re-identification (re-ID) from citizen-science imagery can look strong on standard retrieval metrics while still relying on the wrong evidence, such as background context or silhouette shape, instead of the coat pattern that defines identity. We introduce a diagnostic framework for wildlife re-ID with two axes: a leakage-controlled context ratio, background/foreground, computed from inpainted background-only versus foreground-only images, and a laterality diagnostic based on cross-flank retrieval and mirror self-similarity. To make these diagnostics measurable, we curate a Pantanal jaguar benchmark with per-pixel segmentation masks and an identity-balanced evaluation protocol. We then use representative mitigation families, ArcFace fine-tuning, anti-symmetry regularization, and Lorentz hyperbolic embeddings, as case studies under the same evaluation lens. The goal is not only to ask which model ranks best, but also what visual evidence it uses to do so.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_09690
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Are We Recognizing the Jaguar or Its Background? A Diagnostic Framework for Jaguar Re-Identification
Rueda-Toicen, Antonio
Martin, Abigail Allen
Morozov, Daniil
Mahmood, Matin
Schild, Alexandra
Dayani, Shahabeddin
Panza, Davide
de Melo, Gerard
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Jaguar re-identification (re-ID) from citizen-science imagery can look strong on standard retrieval metrics while still relying on the wrong evidence, such as background context or silhouette shape, instead of the coat pattern that defines identity. We introduce a diagnostic framework for wildlife re-ID with two axes: a leakage-controlled context ratio, background/foreground, computed from inpainted background-only versus foreground-only images, and a laterality diagnostic based on cross-flank retrieval and mirror self-similarity. To make these diagnostics measurable, we curate a Pantanal jaguar benchmark with per-pixel segmentation masks and an identity-balanced evaluation protocol. We then use representative mitigation families, ArcFace fine-tuning, anti-symmetry regularization, and Lorentz hyperbolic embeddings, as case studies under the same evaluation lens. The goal is not only to ask which model ranks best, but also what visual evidence it uses to do so.
title Are We Recognizing the Jaguar or Its Background? A Diagnostic Framework for Jaguar Re-Identification
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.09690