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Week 8 [14-21.12.20] How do animals navigate?

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We know that a lot of animal species go on epic migrations, like large birds from Europe to countries in Africa and penguins from Antarctica’s coast to its inland. The question arises however how animals know which way to go? They don't use advanced technology as us, humans do and yet they always tend to reach their destination. One of the mechanisms explaining this is magnetism, which enables them to feel the earth's magnetosphere enabling them to go to any direction of the world like south, west, east or north. The video explains in detail how it's possible.



  1. Can you name a species of animals that migrates periodically?
  2. Would you like to have a cellular magnet that would enable you to navigate more easily?
  3. Do you think that some animals could possess some superpowers that we are unaware of?

Comments

Tadeusz Pawlonka said…
Yes, I can name a few animals which migrate periodically. The most obvious ones are generally birds, like storks and swallows. Many whales are known to migrate seasonally, as are some fish (usually during their reproductive season). There's even migratory arthropods, from butterflies to spiders (some species of which, curiously, become social during such migrations and travel in large groups).

While I obviously wouldn't say no to having an additional sense helping me navigate, in truth I don't think magnetoreception would be terribly useful. Landmark-based navigation would likely still be the bedrock of travel unaided by technology, and there are techniques for finding the cardinal directions which don't require anything more than mere sight, such as finding which side of trees moss grows on, watching the sun's position or identifying star constellations at night. With the aid of modern technology such as navsat, this becomes even less of an issue.

Whether or not animals possess "superpowers" unknown to us depends largely on how we define a superpower. For example, most antibiotics are natural compounds produced by fungi, which are the only clade of living things to evolve such bacteriostatic abilities. Arguably, the fungi's ability to fight bacteria is a superpower of sorts, only matched by some viruses like bacteriophages which specialize in preying on bacteria. I once read that the consensus in the field of biology is that there's more antibiotics of fungal origin in nature than we know of currently, so I think they could be considered "hidden superpowers", especially since discovering them could be greatly helpful to human medicine as bacteria evolve to be increasingly more resistant to the few substances we know currently.
14 December 2020 at 14:07
Mateusz Szych said…
1. It seems to me that mainly birds migrate in Europe, the first creature that comes to mind is a stork. Some species of fish migrate in the seas and oceans, but I cannot name any other animals.
2. I think it would be very helpful, especially in the past when the compass was a basic travel accessory. In the home of GPS phones it would not be so useful, but it would be nice to have such 'power'.
3. It depends on the definition of superpowers. If we take the definitions of the fantasy genre, then no, they don't. However, if we consider cellular magnet as a superpower, it is possible that they possess superpowers unknown to us.
20 December 2020 at 00:21
Viktor Ryś said…
@Tadeusz Pawlonka
Interesting, I didn't know that antibiotics are produced by fungi, and it's nice to know that this 'superpower' is useful not only to fungi but also us humans.
I also agree that having magnetoreception would be a very useful skill to posses, since as you said the technology works great and even without it there are some
obvious signs we can observe in the nature that could give us some sense of direction.

@Mateusz Szych
I think that Tuna is the most famous fish that migrates, it travels over 6000 miles over the atlantic every year.
20 December 2020 at 15:20
Anna Żak said…
Seasonal animal travel is fascinating in a way. The wandering species must use all its skills. Usually this happens according to other natural circumstances, at the right time of the year and with prior preparation. The keys of flying cranes or other birds are an unforgettable sight. Red crabs are an interesting type of creature that also wander seasonally. They live on Christmas Island, which is located near Australia, in the Indian Ocean. Once a year, crabs come out of the jungle to lay their eggs in the ocean. During this period, the entire path they travel is covered with these red creatures.

I don't think humans need cells to feel the magnetic field. We have many more skills and a large brain that should help us with orientation in the field. For centuries, people have coped well with travel. Nowadays, I have the impression that this skill is disappearing, but fortunately we can fill the gaps with the right technology.

Superpower is a term that immediately brings to mind science fiction stories. So I don't think animals have anything like that. Of course, each creature has a skill set appropriate to its species. They enable survival, and that's it.
20 December 2020 at 17:06
Karolina Rolska said…
I know about some type of whales that migrates to places where are warmer flows, penguins, and many types of birds that migrate to warmer places to avoid winter.

I would love to have the cellular magnet. My sense of direction is the worst, I often go in the wrong direction, because I think the place where I’m heading is that way, and I get lost very easily in the parking lot.

I think that a lot of them may have superpowers. I guess we focus more on the ones that humans have, which is amazing too of course. It is truly almost unbelievable that some animals have cellular magnets or echolocation or any other superpower, and I think we might not be aware yet of many of them, but I can’t wait to find out more!
20 December 2020 at 22:47
Jakub Radzikowski said…
1. Can you name a species of animals that migrates periodically?

Yes I knwo some. I think that most of birds migrate but I guess also fish, maybe... I know that storks and swallows are amongs birds that migrate regularly.

2. Would you like to have a cellular magnet that would enable you to navigate more easily?

I think that might be cool but I don't really that is necessary. Propably people would need that whil being lost and in danger f.e. dessert or deep in some wild forest. Despite these situations I don't really think that nowadays we would need that. Maybe in ancient times but not today.

3. Do you think that some animals could possess some superpowers that we are unaware of?

Yeah, let's take ecolocation for example. That is of course explainable but it seems really amazing and unnatural for people. I think that we underestimate many species because we are "superior" to them or we just feel like it. I think that each specie is important and we usually don't appreciate their real value.
20 December 2020 at 23:55
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