Secret abilities of animals revealed
Bats attract females by singing high-pitch serenades, elephants listen using their feet, and mole rats use a form of Morse code to communicate, according to research revealed in a new book.
African Elephants can hear with their feet
After centuries of study and scrutiny by biologists, it would be easy to assume that the natural world can have few surprises left.
But with the aid of modern technology and techniques, scientists are starting to uncover a multitude of secret abilities that animals have evolved to help them survive.
Dr Karen Shanor, a neurophyschologist at Georgetown University, and her colleague Jagmeet Kanwal, a neuroethologist who studies bat behaviour, have compiled evidence from around the world to show just how extraordinary many animals are.
"As a species, and certainly as scientists, we have underestimated animals for a long time," said Dr Shanor.
"Many animals have astonishing abilities that are only starting to become clear as we use new technology and knowledge to study them. I am constantly amazed by the abilities of even insignificant looking insects."
Among the recent discoveries outlined in their book, Bats Sing, Mice Giggle, is research that elephants are capable of detecting seismic vibrations through the bones in their feet and nerves in their trunks.
By producing low frequency rumbles in their calls, elephants can communicate through the ground over hundreds of miles.
Researchers studying bats have also found that certain bats produce songs as well as the chirps they use for echolocation and hunting.
The false vampire bat, or Megaderma lyra, uses distinctive social calls that sound like songs when recorded and played back at a slower speed, to attract female mates while the sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata, uses songs to mark out its territory.
Dr Kate Jones, a senior research fellow at the Zoological Society of London, is leading a project to record bat calls from around the world.
She said: "We are starting to realise that there is a whole new way of seeing the world in sound that has been completely overlooked in the past.
"Bat calls are still very poorly understood, partly because we can't hear them, unlike bird calls, but it seems they use sound not only to see but to attract mates and interact socially."
Name: Blind Mole rat (Spalax ehrenbergi)
Location: Middle East
Ability: Morse Code
How it works: Completely blind, these rodents live solitary lives below ground in the tunnels they excavate. The tunnels rarely intersect and any noises produced by the mole rats can barely travel a few yards through the soil around them. Scientists have discovered that these mole rats communicate using "head-drumming". The rodents bang their heads against the walls of their underground passageways, sending out vibrations which travel up to 50 feet away. Other mole rats hold their jaws against the tunnel wall to detect the messages, which include information about territories and even courting.
Name: Dwarf spider (Erigone atra)
Location: Britain, Europe, North America and central Asia
Ability: Paragliding
How it works: Spiders are able to travel hundreds of miles across the sea to colonise remote volcanic islands. Research has revealed that the spiders "paraglide" by casting strands of silk into the air. The silk parachute is caught by turbulence in the air, propelling the creatures over long distances.
Name: African Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Location: Africa
Ability: Hearing with their feet
How it works: Elephants can produce low frequency noises which can travel for hundreds of miles though the hard African ground. Other elephants detect these vibrations through their feet. By placing one foot on tiptoe, the elephants can increase their sensitivity to the vibrations. Elephants have also been seen to "listen" for these vibrations using their trunks.
Name: Greater false vampire bat (Megaderma lyra) and Greater sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata)
Location: Asia (false vampire bat) and South America (sac-winged bat)
Ability: Singing
How it works: Bats use sound to see, hunt and navigate. This echolocation, where high frequency sounds bounce off objects giving the bat a picture of the world around it, is purely functional. But recent studies have also revealed that bats use sound socially, producing lower frequency calls which are still inaudible to the human ear but allow bats to communicate with one other. The greater false vampire bat and the greater sac-winged bat have been found to take this even further by singing. In false vampire bats, dominant males produce sounds that are distinct to each individual. It is thought they are used to attract female mates, while the sac-winged bat uses its song to mark out its territory rather like song birds.
Name: Cockroaches (Blattaria)
Location: Worldwide, apart from Antarctica
Ability: Survival
How it works: Cockroaches survive for a month without food and for a week without water. They can tolerate up to 15 times more radiation than humans, can survive for up to two weeks without a head.
Name: Elephantnose fish (Gnathonemus petersii)
Location: Central Africa
Ability: Electrical interference
How it works: Electric fish, including electric eels, electric catfish and torpedo rays produce electric fields that are powerful enough to stun and even kill prey. Some species, however, use their electrical pulses in a far more subtle way. The elephantnose fish use their electric signals to jam the signals given off by rivals. Male elephantnose fish deliberately change the frequency of the electrical pulses they produce to interfere with those produced by rivals, in an attempt to drown them out. This is often done when competing for a mate or to stop a rival attracting prey.
Name: Garden warbler (Sylvia borin)
Location: Northern Europe in summer, central Africa in winter
Ability: "Seeing" magnetic fields
How it works: Migrating birds travel thousands of miles every year to reach feeding grounds during the winter, but how they find their way year after year has baffled experts. Scientists recently discovered that migrating birds may actually be able to "see" the Earth's magnetic field, helping them to orientate themselves. Molecules known as cryptochromes in the retina of migratory birds eyes react to the magnetic field of the Earth. Experts found that when this happens, the regions of the brain responsible for vision are highly active, suggesting the cryptochromes are affecting the light sensing cells in the retina to create images.
Name: New Caledonian Crow (Corvus moneduloides)
Location: New Caledonia and Loyalty Islands in the Pacific
Ability: Intelligence
How it works: New Caledonian crows have been found to make and use tools, an ability previously thought to be restricted to humans and apes.
"As a species, and certainly as scientists, we have underestimated animals for a long time," said Dr Shanor.
"Many animals have astonishing abilities that are only starting to become clear as we use new technology and knowledge to study them. I am constantly amazed by the abilities of even insignificant looking insects."
Among the recent discoveries outlined in their book, Bats Sing, Mice Giggle, is research that elephants are capable of detecting seismic vibrations through the bones in their feet and nerves in their trunks.
By producing low frequency rumbles in their calls, elephants can communicate through the ground over hundreds of miles.
Researchers studying bats have also found that certain bats produce songs as well as the chirps they use for echolocation and hunting.
The false vampire bat, or Megaderma lyra, uses distinctive social calls that sound like songs when recorded and played back at a slower speed, to attract female mates while the sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata, uses songs to mark out its territory.
Dr Kate Jones, a senior research fellow at the Zoological Society of London, is leading a project to record bat calls from around the world.
She said: "We are starting to realise that there is a whole new way of seeing the world in sound that has been completely overlooked in the past.
"Bat calls are still very poorly understood, partly because we can't hear them, unlike bird calls, but it seems they use sound not only to see but to attract mates and interact socially."
Name: Blind Mole rat (Spalax ehrenbergi)
Location: Middle East
Ability: Morse Code
How it works: Completely blind, these rodents live solitary lives below ground in the tunnels they excavate. The tunnels rarely intersect and any noises produced by the mole rats can barely travel a few yards through the soil around them. Scientists have discovered that these mole rats communicate using "head-drumming". The rodents bang their heads against the walls of their underground passageways, sending out vibrations which travel up to 50 feet away. Other mole rats hold their jaws against the tunnel wall to detect the messages, which include information about territories and even courting.
Name: Dwarf spider (Erigone atra)
Location: Britain, Europe, North America and central Asia
Ability: Paragliding
How it works: Spiders are able to travel hundreds of miles across the sea to colonise remote volcanic islands. Research has revealed that the spiders "paraglide" by casting strands of silk into the air. The silk parachute is caught by turbulence in the air, propelling the creatures over long distances.
Name: African Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Location: Africa
Ability: Hearing with their feet
How it works: Elephants can produce low frequency noises which can travel for hundreds of miles though the hard African ground. Other elephants detect these vibrations through their feet. By placing one foot on tiptoe, the elephants can increase their sensitivity to the vibrations. Elephants have also been seen to "listen" for these vibrations using their trunks.
Name: Greater false vampire bat (Megaderma lyra) and Greater sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata)
Location: Asia (false vampire bat) and South America (sac-winged bat)
Ability: Singing
How it works: Bats use sound to see, hunt and navigate. This echolocation, where high frequency sounds bounce off objects giving the bat a picture of the world around it, is purely functional. But recent studies have also revealed that bats use sound socially, producing lower frequency calls which are still inaudible to the human ear but allow bats to communicate with one other. The greater false vampire bat and the greater sac-winged bat have been found to take this even further by singing. In false vampire bats, dominant males produce sounds that are distinct to each individual. It is thought they are used to attract female mates, while the sac-winged bat uses its song to mark out its territory rather like song birds.
Name: Cockroaches (Blattaria)
Location: Worldwide, apart from Antarctica
Ability: Survival
How it works: Cockroaches survive for a month without food and for a week without water. They can tolerate up to 15 times more radiation than humans, can survive for up to two weeks without a head.
Name: Elephantnose fish (Gnathonemus petersii)
Location: Central Africa
Ability: Electrical interference
How it works: Electric fish, including electric eels, electric catfish and torpedo rays produce electric fields that are powerful enough to stun and even kill prey. Some species, however, use their electrical pulses in a far more subtle way. The elephantnose fish use their electric signals to jam the signals given off by rivals. Male elephantnose fish deliberately change the frequency of the electrical pulses they produce to interfere with those produced by rivals, in an attempt to drown them out. This is often done when competing for a mate or to stop a rival attracting prey.
Name: Garden warbler (Sylvia borin)
Location: Northern Europe in summer, central Africa in winter
Ability: "Seeing" magnetic fields
How it works: Migrating birds travel thousands of miles every year to reach feeding grounds during the winter, but how they find their way year after year has baffled experts. Scientists recently discovered that migrating birds may actually be able to "see" the Earth's magnetic field, helping them to orientate themselves. Molecules known as cryptochromes in the retina of migratory birds eyes react to the magnetic field of the Earth. Experts found that when this happens, the regions of the brain responsible for vision are highly active, suggesting the cryptochromes are affecting the light sensing cells in the retina to create images.
Name: New Caledonian Crow (Corvus moneduloides)
Location: New Caledonia and Loyalty Islands in the Pacific
Ability: Intelligence
How it works: New Caledonian crows have been found to make and use tools, an ability previously thought to be restricted to humans and apes.
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