Animals surpass humans in five perceptual abilities

Tech 2023-10-31 08:52:08 Source: Network

Today's PerspectiveReporter Liu Xia from our newspaperHumans possess some well-developed and structurally complex senses that have undergone long-term evolution. For example, our vision can see a variety of colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple; Our hearing can feel the most wonderful music; Our sense of smell helps detect hazards such as fires and food spoilage

Today's Perspective

Reporter Liu Xia from our newspaper

Humans possess some well-developed and structurally complex senses that have undergone long-term evolution. For example, our vision can see a variety of colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple; Our hearing can feel the most wonderful music; Our sense of smell helps detect hazards such as fires and food spoilage.

Despite this, some animals have sensory functions that surpass those of humans and possess incredible perceptual abilities that humans do not have, according to a recent report on the Discovery website in the United States.

Biological sonar

Bats and dolphins are naturally skilled at using echolocation.

Echo localization is also known as "biological sonar": animals emit sound, and sound waves bounce back when encountering any object while traveling. Echoes contain information about previously encountered objects. Animals construct a picture of the external world by interpreting the information in echoes, achieving various goals, such as searching for prey, avoiding predators and obstacles, and engaging in social interaction.

Animals that use echolocation include bats, dolphins, whales, some shrews, and mice. There are several methods for animal echo localization, from vibrating the throat to flapping wings, and so on. Bats are the animals best at echolocation, using built-in sonar to track fast-moving prey at night. Although the echolocation range of bats is only about 9 meters, it can effectively help them navigate in dense environments. Dolphins have a much larger echolocation range, exceeding 92 meters.

Echolocation is an extremely precise sensation that allows animals to recognize objects that are only a few inches long. Dolphins can even determine whether it is a table tennis ball or a golf ball based on density.

Hunting by electric perception

Electric perception enables some animals to detect electrostatic fields without relying on vision for hunting.

Nerve and muscle activities create electric fields, allowing certain animals to locate prey without relying on vision. These prey are usually hidden in caves or dark and turbid water.

Amphibians or aquatic animals primarily possess electrical perception, as water conducts electricity more effectively than air. Sharks, dolphins, rays, and some bony fish all have electric sensation. Sharks have many holes on their heads, lined with cilia, similar to those found in human ears. Once an electrical signal is received, this cilia activates neurotransmitters in the shark's brain, telling the shark about the surrounding waters. This skill can help the shark hunt in the deep sea.

Although there are few terrestrial animals with electric senses, platypuses, cockroaches, and bees can all detect electric fields around flowers. Researchers analyzed the beak of the platypus and found that it was covered with over 4000 electrical signal receptors.

Infrared thermal imaging function

Infrared vision is the ability of certain animals to perceive infrared light. Human eyes cannot see infrared light, only cold-blooded animals can see infrared light because warm-blooded animals release heat, which makes them unable to see infrared light. Animals with infrared vision include mosquitoes, bedbugs, goldfish, salmon, bullfrogs, and some snakes.

Snakes hunt using infrared thermal imaging. The heat sensitive cells on the snake can accurately detect external heat, and the brain will generate complete images of its prey based on the distribution of heat. It is precisely with this system that snakes can accurately determine the position of prey such as mice and unexpectedly hunt in the dark night where their fingers are out of sight.

This technology has been widely applied in multiple fields. For example, by observing the temperature of various parts of the human body using an infrared thermal imager, once an abnormal temperature is detected, it indicates that there may be health hazards in that part, leading to earlier intervention and treatment.

Sensing the Earth's magnetic field

Magnetic sensing is a biological phenomenon in which certain animals are able to detect and utilize the Earth's magnetic field for positioning, navigation, and other purposes, similar to a built-in GPS system.

Animals with magnetic sensitivity include red foxes, cows, deer, butterflies, fruit flies, some birds, lobsters, and turtles.

Animals like red foxes can "see" magnetic fields, which appear as patches of varying depths in their vision. They use magnetic sensing to capture prey hidden in the grass; Cattle or deer, whether eating grass or resting, are almost always in the same direction - towards the Earth's magnetic poles, which helps them become familiar with their surroundings; For monarch butterflies, fruit flies, pigeons, lobsters, and turtles, magnetic sensing helps them navigate through the long migration process.

Scientists from Lund University in Sweden tested the proteins in the body of the spotted grass finch and found that the bird's eyes contain a special protein that acts as a magnetic sensor, allowing the spotted grass finch to "see" the geomagnetic field.

polarization vision

Polarized light vision enables some animals to discover hidden light or images, thus gaining advantages in tasks such as hunting, locating food sources, navigation, socializing, and detecting camouflage.

Humans need sunglasses to block the glare of polarized light, but some animals' photoreceptor cells have gradually evolved to naturally do so, providing them with an additional visual dimension - polarized light vision.

As early as 1949, Austrian zoologist Karl von Frisch discovered that many insects, such as dragonflies, possess polarized light recognition abilities that surpass those of humans. In addition, animals that can see or detect polarized light include bees, ants, crickets, rat eared bats, as well as certain fish species. Among them, squid has the strongest polarized light vision in the animal kingdom, so although squid is color blind, it has hunting and survival advantages.

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