All Articles Tagged As: senses

Fish can recognize a face based on UV pattern alone (3/4/2010)

Two species of damselfish may look identical -- not to mention drab -- to the human eye. But that's because, in comparison to the fish, all of us are essentially colorblind. A new study published online on Feb. 25 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, reveals that the fish can easily tell one species from another based entirely on the shape of the ultraviolet patterns on their faces. ...> Full Article

A magnetometer in the upper beak of birds? (3/2/2010)

Frankfurt neurobiologists show similar structural candidates for a magnetoreceptor in different bird species -- a cooperation with physicists of the Hamburg DESY. ...> Full Article

Is an animal's agility affected by the position of its eyes? (2/26/2010)

New research from scientists in Liverpool has revealed the relationship between agility and vision in mammals. ...> Full Article

Fish vision discovery makes waves in natural selection (10/20/2009)

Emory University researchers have identified the first fish known to have switched from ultraviolet vision to violet vision, or the ability to see blue light. The discovery is also the first example of an animal deleting a molecule to change its visual spectrum. ...> Full Article

German researchers find there is more to bats' vision than meets the eye (7/31/2009)

The eyes of nocturnal bats possess two spectral cone photoreceptor types for daylight and color vision. Reporting in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, July 28, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and the University of Oldenburg have detected cones and their visual pigments in two flower-visiting species of bat. ...> Full Article

New insight into how bees see (1/24/2009)

New research from Monash University bee researcher Adrian Dyer could lead to improved artificial intelligence systems and computer programs for facial recognition. ...> Full Article

Moths with a nose for learning (10/5/2008)

Insects can be trained to perform certain behaviors when enticed with different smells ...> Full Article

Study Says Eyes Evolved for X-Ray Vision (8/29/2008)

Forward-facing eyes allow animals to “see through” the clutter in the world ...> Full Article

Ultrasonic frogs can tune their ears to different frequencies (7/23/2008)

Researchers have discovered that a frog that lives near noisy springs in central China can tune its ears to different sound frequencies, much like the tuner on a radio can shift from one frequency to another. It is the only known example of an animal that can actively select what frequencies it hears. ...> Full Article

How birds spot the cuckoo in the nest (7/20/2008)

Cuckoo's detect imposters eggs' by determining UV reflectivity ...> Full Article

Do birds have a good sense of smell? (7/17/2008)

Birds don't just see and hear well, their sense of smell is also highly developed ...> Full Article

Eyeless but not blind: Light-sensing worms provide a new tool for the study of vision and eye disease (7/8/2008)

The tiny eyeless C. elegans roundworm, one of the most widely used animals in biological research, can detect flashes of light and responds to them by quickly wriggling away ...> Full Article

Primate's Scent Speaks Volumes (6/24/2008)

Lemur's scented name tag indicates kin relationships ...> Full Article

Female concave-eared frogs draw mates with ultrasonic calls (5/12/2008)

Frogs ability to home in on the sound call is astonishingly precise ...> Full Article

Seagulls: Are males the weaker sex? (5/12/2008)

Study says social context affects the sexes differently ...> Full Article

Female jumping spiders find ultraviolet B rays 'sexy' (5/3/2008)

Research provides the first evidence of an animal using ultraviolet B rays to communicate with other members of its species ...> Full Article

Echolocating bats use high power acoustics to detect prey (5/2/2008)

New scientific results show bats emitting more dB than a rock concert ...> Full Article

Are you looking at me? (4/30/2008)

Birds can tell if you are watching them - because they are watching you. ...> Full Article

Study Finds Mice Can Sense Oxygen Through Skin (4/18/2008)

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that the skin of mice can sense low levels of oxygen and regulate the production of erythropoietin, or EPO, the hormone that stimulates our bodies to produce red blood cells and allows us to adapt to high-altitude, low-oxygen environments ...> Full Article

Mantis shrimp vision reveals new way that animals can see (3/24/2008)

Mantis shrimp can see the world in a way that had never been observed in any animal before, researchers report in the March 20th Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The discovery-which marks the fourth type of visual system-suggests that the ability to perceive circular polarized light may lend mantis shrimp a secret mode of communication. ...> Full Article

Like sweets? You're more like a fruit fly than you think... (3/19/2008)

Similarities highlight environment's role in shaping evolution of taste preferences ...> Full Article

Researchers catch rats' twitchy whiskers in action (3/3/2008)

Rats use their whiskers in a way that is closely related to the human sense of touch: Just as humans move their fingertips across a surface to perceive shapes and textures, rats twitch their whiskers to achieve the same goal. Now, in a finding that could help further understanding of perception across species, MIT neuroscientists have used high-speed video to reveal rat whiskers in action and show the tiny movements that underlie the rat's perception of its tactile environment. ...> Full Article

Elephants can 'smell danger' (10/18/2007)

Elephants can tell whether a human is a friend or foe by their scent and colour of clothing. ...> Full Article