Two Research Studies into Animal Navigation
Keeton conducted a study regarding the ability of pigeon’s to navigate. It was suggested that pigeons are able to detect the earth’s magnetic field, and therefore navigate with this aid. An experiment carried out to explore this possibility. Small magnets were attached to the heads of pigeons which were then released in unfamiliar surroundings. The magnets were designed to disrupt any detection of the earth’s magnetic field. The pigeon’s ability to find it’s way back to it’s home loft was then observed. It was found that the pigeons had difficulty returning home on overcast days, but had very little difficultly doing so on clear, sunny days. This
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These butterflies were found to be headed in a different direction to the original butterflies. Their path’s were at a 90 degree angle from the path’s of the normal butterflies. This suggested that the butterflies headed in a certain direction according to where they believe the sun should be for the time of day they believed it to be. It was also found that the butterflies did not respond to changes in magnetic fields suggesting that their primary compass system is based on the sun.
b) Assess what these studies can tell us about homing and/or migration.
Both studies suggest that animals do not necessarily use just one method to navigate. Keeton’s studies shows pigeon’s to use both magnetic field and the sun depending on the weather condition. This demonstrates that animals are able to adapt their navigational strategy accordingly as it is essential for survival. However, in Mouritsen and Frost’s experiment, it was suggested that butterflies only utilise one strategy of navigation; the sun. Even in cloudy conditions butterflies are said to use patterns of polarised light visible through the clouds. In this case, the idea that animals adapt to different weather conditions cannot be put forward. The butterflies were able to navigate their direction even when the sun was not actually present. This puts forward the idea that animals do not necessarily
The Use of Non-Human Animals in Psychological Research Animals used in research have proved to be an important factor for the uses of medicine, for example Flemming found the use of penicillin was an effective antibiotic when it was used on mice. Since 1822, legislation has limited how scientists use animals. In the UK, the use of animals in psychological investigations has been constrained by ethical and moral guidelines. Current UK legislation in the Animals Scientific Procedures Act 1986 states that all animal research must only take place in a laboratory that are institutionally licensed for animal research. It must be apart of an approved research project.
Animal Intelligence Intelligence is defined as the ability to acquire and apply knowledge. Psychologists have exploited this concept in many ways to try and determine whether non-human animals are capable of intelligence. From social learning it is logical to assume that, since non-human animals are able to both acquire and use new behaviours, they must be intelligent in some way. Heyes stated that there are 6 types of behaviour which suggest intelligence. These are imitation, self-recognition, social relationship formation, role-taking, deception and perspective taking.
According to Martin Schonfield in “Animal Consciousness: Paradigm Change in the Life Sciences” “In the old analytic climate, claims that animals are sentient raised methodological and ideological problems and seemed debatable at best.”(Schonfield p. 1) Claims that animals were self-aware or intelligent were regarded as unfounded. “The task of science in the past four centuries had been to demythologize the past.”(Schonfield p.1) Daniel C. Dennett in “Animal Consciousness: What Matters and Why” states “that speculating about animal consciousness makes no sense.” (Dennett p.19) He wonders why we need to know about animal consciousness at all. I disagree with Dennett and will explore the possibilities of animals actually experiencing
The domestic dog has to be one of the most unique animals that the human had ever bred. All dogs were formed differently and for separate reasons; whether it be for their looks or for their personal attributes, the dog has been evolved around humans and yet many breeds were created by humans themselves. I also believe that having a dog is a necessity to having a balanced life, just how Cesar Millan was quoted on the Brainy Quote web page “The dog can only become what's in your bubble. The dog is imitating the energy that is in your bubble. You are the source, the feast of energy. If you feel anxious, the dog becomes anxious with you. If you become nervous, the dog wakes up nervous with you”. Your dog runs off of your actions and emotions
Coastal Canine is a pet boarding service facility that is located in Chula Vista, California. This dog boarding facility was established in 2015. Coastal Canine provides cage-free dog daycare, boarding, training, walks, baths, plus more. Their services include concierge, dog daycare, obedience training, and more. Coastal Canine has taken a dog safety pledge in January of 2015. They are a certified canine professional.
In the experiment, students conditioned planaria to either avoid or approach light. The process included a learning phase and a memory phase for both experiments 1 and 2. The planaria were placed in a plywood track to be trained. Conditioning for approach light was done by shining the light on the planaria for 30 seconds and then turning the light off. When the light was off, air was blown at the heads of the planaria so that they turned around. This process was repeated and trials were recorded for when the planaria turned on their own without the puff of air. The same process was done for conditioning the planaria to avoid light, except the planaria received puffs of air to the head with the light shining on them. The second portion
On Friday, March 31, a observation study was conducted at the L.A. Zoo. The time of arrival for the observation was at 11:48 am and the end of the observation was at 2:42 pm. The weather condition at the zoo was very sunny with a mild gust of wind every so often, which is a perfect weather condition to conduct a study. The main reason for conducting this observation study was to study and gather information about the many different types of primate that are located at the zoo. To see how different or similar each primate is to one anotherin different aspects.
Some of the nonvisual cues used in duck migration is the Earth’s magnetic field, and homing. Since navigation and migration behavior is very difficult to study, some Mallards have been marked with GPS satellite telemetry units to aid in the study.
The Arctic wolf is a sub-species of the grey wolf and lives in the Arctic regions of North America and Greenland. Arctic Wolves also live in, Montebello, Quebec, Canada. The arctic wolf if a mammal.
The snowshoe hare is an important consumer in the ANWR food chain. Without it, top predators such as the brown bear would lack an important food source. The snowshoe hare is an herbivore. Like all herbivores, it eats only plants. Some plants that the snowshoe hare eats are the reindeer lichen, the arctic willow, and the arctic sedge. In the ANWR, it is important that the snowshoe hare has useful adaptations since it lives in the tundra, one of the world’s toughest biomes to survive in. Its signature adaptation is its ability to change color. During the winter, its coat is white as snow, which helps it blend in with its tundra habitat. During the spring and summer, its fur changes reddish-brown, which helps it blend with the dirt and mud that is common in the tundra during and after the period
Eating and foraging were similar events, but categorized differently. Eating was any time the monkey stayed in one location to eat. He could be sitting or standing. This was most notably seen when the monkey would grab a leaf or stick, climb up to a branch, and sit there while eating. Foraging was when the monkey would walk or climb around to look for food, occasionally eating what he found. The monkey we observed was seen foraging arboreally by picking at leaves through the fence and terrestrially, where he would sift through the grass or debris on the ground to find things to eat.
Wolves and coyotes are very smart animals. They have extremely good eyesight and sense of smell. They can hear calls from very far away and they both have dog-like appearance, but although wolves and coyotes are very similar physically, they have very little in common in terms of social behavior.
Because greyhounds have been bred to be the fastest dogs in the world, their anatomy is unique. Unlike humans, greyhounds are designed. Their bodies are sleek, light, and efficiently built. They are not designed for survival in nature, however. The specificity of their body makeup makes them prone to problems that many other breeds of dogs and other animals don’t run into. Their fur is short with no undercoat, they develop sores if their bedding is incorrect, and they’re prone to more anxiety problems. These remarkable creatures are like us though. You can’t change their basic mammalian forms. Their skeletons and muscles are like ours with slight variations. Maybe there’s room for improvement but it’s hard to find and all debatable. They are
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Los Angeles zoo on a beautiful, sunny Thursday (October 19th). Although I arrived off schedule which left a minimal amount of time to observe primates, I managed my time well. After being told that the larger animals get put away earlier, I figured my first stop would be at an ape enclosure. The ape I chose to see that day was the gorilla. The time that I began my observation was at approximately 3:05. At that time only one ape was quite visible and he was sitting at the front making eye contact with me making it seem as if he is HABITUATED. Next, post gorilla watching, I had the chance to take a gander at the ring railed lemurs at 3:40. These prosimians all had their own personalities which interested me deeply. Lastly, and certainly not least on my journey through the LA zoo, I had the chance of looking at the mandrills which were once classified as baboons. Considering that two baby mandrills were present and only a month old, this was my favorite exhibit to see because of their high energy and randomness of actions.
Eukaryotes come in two grades of organization: single-celled (protists) and multicellular (plants, animals, and fungi). The world today is full of complex multicellular plants and animals: how, why, and when did they evolve from protists?