How do animals navigate the world without maps or modern technology?
In short: Colin Blakemore explores the biological navigation systems that allow animals to perform extraordinary feats of travel. While humans struggle to find their way without tools, species like salmon and pigeons rely on remarkable sensory skills to guide them home.
In his 1982 Christmas Lecture, recorded on 23 December 1982, Blakemore examines the sensory mechanisms animals use to orient themselves. Homing pigeons, for instance, utilize a combination of solar and stellar navigation, which requires an internal biological clock, alongside a magnetic sense that functions as a compass. They also rely on visual landmarks to reach their final destination with precision.
Beyond long-distance navigation, animals must constantly sense their position relative to gravity and their surroundings to maintain posture. This involves specialized systems like the inner ear in mammals and lateral line organs in fish. Furthermore, the body relies on proprioception—a largely unconscious sense that monitors muscle length and joint position—to understand the spatial relationship of its own parts.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Show me the way to go home - Colin Blakemore's 1982 Christmas Lectures 4/6
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