Our bodies are constantly probing the world around us at every moment, sensing subtle changes in light, sound, chemical smells, and the texture of objects. This ability to perceive is very important, and no matter which one is missing, it will bring some anxiety and pain. In fact, the changes in the world around us that we perceive are only a small part of it. Many subtle changes are beyond our human perceptual abilities compared to the super-sensory abilities of some animals, while some animals have some unique super-sensory abilities.
How do animals have these unique abilities? How can we learn to mimic the supersensory abilities of animals and better perceive the world around us? What makes us most curious is that in the process of evolution, what super-sensory abilities did humans lose?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > Gecko: Stereoscopic vision in one eye</h1>
The principle of gecko eyes is the same as ours. These lizard-like animals have evolved unique visual abilities, with bright daytime environments that do not require sensitive rod-like cells. Rod cells are visual cells that allow the eye to see objects in lower light. Over the course of evolution, the gecko's rod-like cells gradually disappeared, leaving only three types of cone cells, which sense green light, blue light, and ultraviolet light. But even in the twilight, with their eyes wide open, they still have the ability to distinguish colors.
Geckos can also move in bright daylight because their eyes have an unusual special strategy. In the bright light, their pupils almost shrunk into a slit with four pits. When the gecko squints its eyes to look at a narrow slit, it doesn't look like a person with only one pupil. Instead, it has four students connected into a line. Each "pupil" forms an image on the crystal, and the four images will overlap. Therefore, geckos can judge the distance in this way, unless the object is very far from the eye. Since there is no stereoscopic vision like humans, geckos cannot judge distance by adjusting the visual difference between the two eyes. But it has four pupils in one eye, so it no longer needs two eyes to form stereoscopic vision, only one eye.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Cuban cockroach: infrared vision</h1>
The Cuban viper has rainbow-like skin, beautiful and magical. Its eyes can see visible light just like our eyes, and a row of notches in its jaw is its distinctive "other set of eyes" – the "infrared sensor" of the snake. The "infrared eye" of marsupials can detect temperature changes and "see" organisms. While each concave infrared temperature sensor can only "see" a rough and blurry image, the information obtained by all infrared sensors provides a very sharp image, enough for it to track and hunt bats in dark caves. In cases of low light, without the aid of a night vision lens, this is a very effective way to image. For humans, in order to have the ability of "infrared perspective", it is necessary to cultivate sufficiently powerful computer capabilities.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > dolphins or dolphins: high-frequency sounds can be heard</h1>
The mammalian ear is a miracle of the sensory system. Sound enters the cochlea of the inner ear through the external auditory canal, which vibrates the wall of the cochlea, transmitting sound signals to the brain.
About 50 million years ago, the oldest and most primitive whale on Earth, the Ancient Whale of Pakistan, was born. Their offspring enter the ocean and diverge into two species of whales. One is baleen whales, such as blue whales and fin whales, and the other is toothed whales such as orcas, dolphins and sperm whales. Baleen whales have evolved to communicate with a low voice, and their cochlea can hear low frequencies of 3 hertz; on the other hand, toothed whales have evolved to hunt and feed with high-frequency echolocation, and some species of dolphins can even hear sounds up to 280hz.
Although cetaceans have such a keen sense of hearing, they do not have an outer ear because without this need, sound can easily enter the dolphin's body from the water. In the air, sound is reflected back by the body during transmission. Therefore, land mammals need special structures in the outer ear to help sound enter the inner ear. For dolphins, the sound does not enter the small hole on the side of the head. Most of the sound travels directly to the jaw and then to the inner ear. Their entire jaw has been "listening and recognizing sounds."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > Catfish: Swimming tongue</h1>
Most animals' sensory organs are self-explanatory and grow in specific parts of the body. But sometimes, evolution breaks through this limitation. For example, the catfish catfish is like a "swimming tongue" because its whole body is covered with taste receptors — the taste buds — and its lips and whiskers have the most taste receptors. When channel catfish swim in the water, they are always detecting information about "delicious prey" in the ocean.
There are all kinds of chemical irritants in the water, and these "information bombs" seem to overwhelm catfish. In fact, their taste receptors are very targeted when they receive information. They are only interested in two free amino acids. As long as they feel the smell around them, they will bite directly into it. Catfish can sense and discern the concentration of odors. The closer it is to its prey, the stronger the taste, so the more accurate the positioning of the target. The silt at the bottom of the water leads to low visibility, but for catfish, this is not a problem at all. It has a strong sense of taste and can run directly to its prey.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > platypus: electrical sensing capability</h1>
When platypus are looking for prey hiding in the mud, they can't rely on their sight, hearing, and smell to find food, so how can they catch their prey? Platypus evolved another ability: the ability to perceive electricity. As shrimp and other prey move through the water, the contraction of the muscles creates electrical impulses that spread around the water. So when they make a small movement, they will expose their position to the platypus.
The platypus's beak is covered with mucus glands that sense electrical impulses, each of which has a rich nervous system that transmits electrical impulse signals to the nervous system. They have a staggering number of sensors — an estimated 40,000 electroreceptors and 60,000 haptic receptors on each platypus' beak. The binding of these two receptors makes it easy for platypus to find prey hidden in the mud and determine whether these prey are suitable for food.
While swimming in the water, the platypus swims back and forth with its beak and uses the feedback electrical signals to locate its prey. Not only can they swim directly to shrimp in the water to hunt, but they can even catch prey equivalent to half their weight in one night.