Tell me wonders...
My dog's world is dominated by smell and not by sight like ours. When a dog goes out for a walk he wants to explore, he wants to sniff and do it at his own pace and with a different purpose.
They can spend time and time sniffing a piece of soil.
It contains a lot of interesting information. If we stop them because we want them to walk, we make their lives a little sad. We must not impose our human haste on them, sniffing is part of their way of understanding the world. And look at the catfish.
It's all language.
We taste with the tongue, but many animals do it with other parts of the body. Catfish have taste buds all over their body, from head to tail, to taste the flavor of their prey.
Are there beetles attracted to fire?
Most animals run away from fire, but there is a type of beetle that runs towards forest fires that it perceives from many kilometers away because it lays its eggs in the burnt forest.
Feel infrasound and fa diferent?
The infrasound emitted for example by elephants and whales, inaudible to us, allows them to communicate over great distances and this changes the concept of a group. When we see a lone whale, is it really alone?
There are species that coordinate using sonar.
Yes, like dolphins, who use it not only to know where the fish are but to coordinate attack patterns, this is what you get when you combine an extraordinary sense with an impressive brain.
Do dolphins see our organs?
It is another unique quality that underwater sonar has, where the sound penetrates the flesh; dolphins are like living x-rays.
They say that plants dance to the music of insects.
Plants are full of tiny insects that vibrate their bodies to communicate with each other through the vibration of their stems and leaves.
incredible
What I find incredible is that when we put a microphone to that vibration it turns out to be very complex and mysterious sounds that look like musical instruments. The plants that surround us are full of this melody, this song of the insects.
Is there no shared way of feeling the world among all species?
There are senses that are quite universal. Because we humans rely so much on sight, we tend to see it as the most important sense, but there are many creatures who cannot see. Sight is not a universal experience, but smell and touch are.
They are some of the most ancient and primordial senses.
Even bacteria, the first living organisms, are able to smell and perceive chemicals around them, to touch and feel pressure and movement.
An immense world.
All creatures live in their own sensory world, it is what we call Umwelt, the cocktail of senses, images, sounds, smells and textures that each organism is able to perceive. It is a wonderful concept, it is a cure for humility.
Does each species live in its own sensory bubble?
That's right, everyone perceives a very small fraction of what the world is. The human Umwelt is neither predominant nor superior to that of the rest of the species, but is one more in the unattainable multiplicity that the biosphere treasures.
Do we live trapped and isolated in our sensory bubble?
We can escape and see the world bigger, more beautiful and more magical than we think by using one of our greatest gifts.
Who?
the imagination When I think about what my dog smells, I see my neighborhood in a different way, and when I think about those insects on the plants and their music, I understand that my garden is full of wonders.
Does the world shape us or do living beings shape the world?
Both things. Animals that live underground, a world without light, tend to lose their eyes, but the senses also allow animals to change the world.
For example?
Bees are able to distinguish many shades of color in flowers, many more than we can, but flowers predate bees and their ancestors, which means that flower colors evolved to attract the eye of the bee. bee Through our perception of the world we also change it.
We believe we are at the top of the natural hierarchy, do you too?
One of the great lessons of biology is that we are not on top of the world but on an equal footing with all existing creatures.
