Several animals possess what could be considered a “sixth sense” or extraordinary sensory abilities that go beyond the traditional five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell known to humans. Let’s explore how animals use sixth sense from their behavior and habitats to their unique adaptations and the fascinating ways they interact with each other and their environments.
#1 Elephants – Masters of vibration communication, bonding across miles
Elephants are truly remarkable creatures with incredible ways of communication! It’s amazing – their feet and trunks are so sensitive that they can pick up vibrations from other elephants as far as 10 miles away! They use these vibrations to share important information about food and predators. Even more fascinating, they can tell if the other elephants are friendly or not, just by the sound of the vibrations.
#2 Pigeon – A living sensor capable of discerning geographical positions.
Magnetoreception is a pigeon’s sixth sense, which allows them to detect the Earth’s magnetic field using it to travel long distances like a compass. Scientists have discovered a small spot on the beak of pigeons that contains magnetite which acts as a tiny GPS unit giving them a keen sense of spatial orientation, allowing them to determine their geographic location.
#3 Dolphins – The built-in sonar device
Echolocation is an amazing sixth sense that dolphins possess. With this ability, they use sound waves to create a three-dimensional picture of their surroundings. Echolocation helps dolphins navigate, hunt, and interact with others without relying on light to see. It’s truly fascinating how they use this unique skill in their daily lives!
#4 Vampire Bats – The true blood hunter
Bats have not just one, but a trifecta of sixth senses. They use echolocation, geomagnetic, and polarization to navigate and hunt for food. It’s like they have a whole suite of superpowers! Vampire bats can detect warm skin because they can sniff out TRPV1 proteins from the air. Vampire bats use this protein to find warm skin that likely covers a blood vessel.
#5 Mantis shrimp – The secrets of polarized perception
Mantis shrimp have a unique sixth sense related to polarization, thanks to their 16 photoreceptors. They can detect and communicate with other mantis shrimp using linear polarized light, even in ultraviolet and green wavelengths. What’s more, they can also do this with circularly polarized light, making them the only animal known to have this capability. These incredible abilities give mantis shrimp a vast repertoire of signals that only they can see and understand.
#6 Pit vipers – The masters of infrared vision
Image by De Andre Bush via Unsplash
Pit vipers possess an extraordinary ability to see infrared light that sets them apart from other creatures. They have specialized “pits” beneath each nostril that function as night-vision goggles, allowing them to see infrared light distinguishing temperatures instead of colors. They can perceive temperature variations in their surroundings and use this unique sight to detect and hunt their prey.
#7 Sharks – The best biological conductor of electricity
The sharks’ faces are filled with a network of pores containing Lorenzini jelly housing this incredible sixth sense known as electroreception. This feature helps sharks pick up on the electrical signals given off when a fish flexes its muscles, allowing them to detect their prey and navigate their underwater world with unparalleled precision.
8# Platypus- The electrifying hunter
The platypus has a concealed, powerful tool within its anatomy. Its bill contains around 40,000 electroreceptor cells, arranged in stripes on both sides that are used to detect the electrical impulses of their prey. When swimming, a platypus swings its head from side to side to enhance this extraordinary sense.
#9 Bumblebees- Guided by the buzz of voltage
Bumblebees have a unique ability to detect voltage. While in flight, bumblebees acquire a mild positive charge, while flowers carry a negative charge. The bumblebees’ mechanosensory hairs on their legs help them detect an opposite magnetic charge in the air, guiding them to flowers. Interestingly, when a bee lands on a flower, the flower’s charge changes, which prevents other bees from landing on it.
#10 Arctic reindeer- Nature’s uv trailblazers
Arctic Reindeer possess the ability to perceive ultraviolet light, enabling them to effectively locate their preferred nourishment and evade natural predators. Additionally, these reindeer undergo seasonal ocular adjustments, wherein their tapetum, a reflective layer, transitions from a golden to a vivid blue hue during the winter months.
Conclusion
Animals have evolved to perceive aspects of the world that are beyond our senses. We live alongside creatures that can detect veins through smell, perceive ultraviolet light, and communicate through their feet capabilities beyond our imagination. The remarkable sixth senses some animals possess are truly awe-inspiring and how much we still don’t know about many species.
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Tara enjoys writing about marine animals like whales, sharks, dolphins and nudibranchs.
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