How do animals count?

How do animals count?

 

One of the key discoveries of the last decade is that our ability to understand numbers is rooted in our animal ancestry, not in our use of language or speech. Given the variety of situations in which man uses arithmetic, without these numbers it would be impossible to imagine human life.

But what were the benefits of our ancestors' ability to use numbers until they became human? First of all, how did animals understand these numbers?

It is now known that there are opportunities for survival in the way of understanding numbers, so this ability is found in many kinds of creatures. Numerous studies in which animals have been studied while living in their environment have shown that these numbers are used to find food sources for themselves, to avoid extinction, to determine their own directions and their social life. I use it to burn together.

Before the evolution of the creature possessing the power of numbers, the cell seen under the microscope --- the oldest living thing in the world --- knew how to use the information of numbers. Bacteria survive the process of choosing their food from their surroundings, mostly when they divide themselves for growth. However, microbiologists have discovered in recent years that bacteria also have a social life of their own and are able to sense the presence and absence of other bacteria. In other words, they have the ability to sense the numbers of bacteria.

If these bacteria are in a weak solution of water (where they are usually solitary) then they do not emit light. But when they grow to a certain number, they all emit light at the same time. Therefore, vibro fishermen can distinguish when they are alone and when they are in a gathering.

It turns out that they use a chemical language to find out. The concentration of secretory substances (molecules) for communication and the concentration of these substances in water exceeds the proportion of their cells. And when these substances reach a certain number called quorum, they tell the other bacteria how many they are in the same place, and then all the bacteria become enlightened.

This behavior of these bacteria is called 'quorum sensing' --- the bacteria vote along with the signaling material, then these votes are counted, and then if a number (quorum) is met then every Bacteria respond. This type of behavior of vibrio fishery is not uncommon --- all types of bacteria use this type of quorum sensing signaling material to tell their bacterial number to other bacteria.

Interestingly, quorum sensing is not limited to bacteria - other animals use the process for their own purposes. Japanese ants (Myrmisina naponica), for example, decide to migrate their entire population from one place to another when they feel a certain quorum. Because of such a unanimous decision, these ants move with their offspring to a new location along with their entire population, provided that a certain number of these ants are already present in the new location. She then decides that it is safe for her to move her children to a new place.

A small black, white, and khaki-winged bird of Europe called the 'Zikdi', as its name implies, sounds the 'Chick-a-d' alarm. It has been observed that the number of 'D' notices at the end of this alarm indicates the level of danger.

Numerology plays a key role in determining the direction of travel for animals and in their food search strategies. In 2008, biologists Mary Deck and Mandyam Sereni Wasim conducted a powerful and completely controlled experiment in which they discovered that bees traced their markings at various points in an airway to reach their food. Could have made --- even if the location of that airway is changing. Bees use these airway markers to measure the distance of food to their hive. Judging by these numbers is very important for their survival.

When it comes to developing the best strategy for getting food, the principle of getting more food is adopted most of the time, and it becomes clear when you think about it, but some Sometimes a strategy is adopted against this general principle. A plain rat prefers ants as food, but ants become a dangerous prey and bite when they feel threatened.

When this field mouse is released between two groups of ants, it will surprisingly go hunting in whichever direction the number of ants is less. According to one study, mice that had to choose between 15 for five, 30 for 30 and 10 for 30 ants always preferred to attack smaller numbers. Field mice prefer small herds to ensure easy prey and avoid repeated bites.