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How do they find food and avoid predators? Animals are able to do all of these things because they sense their surroundings! Don’t forget, we are animals, too, and we also have senses! Let’s take a look at our 5 basic senses, how animals detect them, and then explore some not-so-basic animal senses.

Smell

Most animals smell with their noses, meaning our noses detect chemicals from the air and work with our brain to figure out what the smell is. Different things have different chemicals, giving them different smells!

Many animals have something called a Jacobson organ (Vomeronasal organ) that assists them in smelling.

Snakes smell with their tongue. They stick out their tongue to collect smell particles from the air and move them to the Jacobson organ at the top of their mouth.

Some lizards, like monitor lizards, can also smell with their tongue.

Some mammals also have Jacobson organs, like felines and hoofed animals. To gather more smell particles, they will curl their upper lip which then move to the organ in their mouth.


Taste

Most animals taste with their tongue, meaning their tongue detects chemicals from the food and liquid that passes over it. Different food have different chemicals, giving food different tastes!

Some animals detect chemicals (almost like flavors…) using different body parts.

Many insects can detect chemicals with their antennas and their legs, like a butterfly!

Catfish can taste with their whiskers, but they have taste receptors all over their body.

Octopuses can detect chemicals with their suckers on each arm.

Sea stars can also taste with their suction cups, called tube feet.


Sight

Most animals see by detecting various wavelengths of light which our eyes and brain turn into the images we see. Humans detect light on what is called the visible light spectrum.

Some animals see different wavelengths of lights, meaning their world appears different than ours.

Birds are able to detect both visible light and ultraviolet light, meaning their world might be brighter and more colorful than ours. So when birds are displaying to a mate, it might look even more magnificent to a female bird than it does to us humans. Bees and other insects can also see in UV.

Many animals, like deer, see a smaller range of wavelengths, which makes them essentially colorblind! This is why it’s easy for a tiger to sneak up on a deer.

Some animals, like dragonflies, have compound eyes, allowing them to see in many different directions. It’s like their eyes take thousands of tiny pictures and then their brain pieces them together.


Hearing

Most animals hear by detecting sound waves. Our brain takes these signals and determines the pitch, how loud or soft something is and what the sound is.

Some animals have really large external ears to help them collect sound, like the bat-eared fox.

Some animals do not have external ears, like dolphins, but are still able to hear.

Some animals have no ear structures and can’t “hear.” They instead sense vibrations around them.

Tarantulas cannot hear, they instead are covered in tiny hairs that allow them to detect vibrations around them. If a coyote is walking nearby, they may not hear it, but they may feel the vibrations along the ground as it walks.


Touch

Most animals sense touch using receptors on our skin that allows us to detect the texture or temperature of an object, and even pain.

Many animals have special body parts to help them sense their surroundings through touch.
Otters have whiskers that help them feel around as they swim in murky bodies of water.

Millipedes feel with their antennae as they navigate their environment.

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There are some animals that can detect things we cannot…

Echolocation, like sonar, sends waves out and allows the animal to build a map of the environment around them - dolphins and some bats

Electrical currents are given off every time an animal moves, breathes, has a heartbeat. Sharks, stingrays, and platypuses can detect electrical fields.

Some animals can detect the Earth’s magnetic field, like having a compass in their head. Birds use this to help them migrate.

Infrared (thermal) detection allows some snakes to detect heat given off by warm blooded animals.

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#hearing
#touch
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#thermaldetection
#earthsmagneticfield
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#5thgradescience

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