How do animals count?

 How do animals count?

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

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

It is now known that the way to understand numbers creates opportunities for survival, 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 directions, and to maintain their social life. I use it to burn together.

Before the evolution of the creature that possessed 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 capable of sensing the presence and absence of other bacteria. In other words, they have the ability to sense the numbers of bacteria.

Take, for example, the Vibrio fishery bacteria of marine life. It has a special kind of ability that allows it to emit light through a process called bioleuminescence, which is similar to the process of emitting light.

If these bacteria are in a weak solution of water (where they are usually solitary), 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 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 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.

Surprisingly, quorum sensing is not limited to bacteria - other animals use the process for their own purposes. For example, Japanese ants (Myrmisina naponica) decide to migrate their entire population from one place to another when they feel a certain quorum. By making such a unanimous decision, these ants move with them and their young to a new place along with their entire population, provided that a certain number of these ants are already present in the new place. 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 'Zikdi' sounds the 'Chick-a-d' alarm as its name implies. It has been observed that the number of 'D' notices at the end of this alarm indicates the level of danger.

Numerical understanding plays a key role in determining the direction of travel for animals and in their food search strategies. In 2008, biologists Marie 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 --- even if the location of that airway was changing. Bees use these airway markers to measure the distance from food to their hive. Examining 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 mostly adopted, and it becomes clear when you think about it, but some Sometimes a strategy is adopted against this general principle. A plain rat likes ants as food, but ants become a dangerous prey and bite when they feel threatened. When this plain rat is left between two groups of ants, it will surprisingly go hunting in the direction where the number of ants is less. According to a study, mice that had to choose between 15 for five, 30 for 30 and 10 for 30 ants always preferred to attack a small number. Field rats prefer small groups to ensure easy prey and avoid repeated bites.

Numerical indicators also play a significant role when hunted in groups. The likelihood of wolves hunting a deer or a buffalo will depend on the size of the hunting group. Wolves usually prey on large animals such as deer or buffalo, but a large prey can kill someone by killing them or trampling them underfoot. So they have an incentive to stop and attack and try to get another wolf to attack first, especially in large predatory herds. As a result, wolves hunt a fair number of members. Two to six wolves are suitable for successful hunting of a deer. However, for a buffalo that is a powerful prey, a herd of nine to thirteen wolves is a guarantee of successful hunting. So for wolves, hunting has a power in numbers, just as much as it is difficult to hunt.

Animals that are either weak or unable to defend themselves usually seek refuge in their socially close groups - there is no need to explain the benefits of surviving in large numbers. But avoiding being hunted in a large numerical group is not the 

In 2005, biologists at the University of Washington discovered that the black-headed European bird, known as the 'Chakdi', strangely signals the presence of its prey and the threat of attack. Like many animals, the cuckoo sounds a danger alarm to its prey when it sees danger from predators, such as the eagle. The birds singing this song for the ambush attacker sound the 'Chuck AD' alarm according to their name. It has been observed that the number of 'D' notices at the end of this alarm indicates the level of danger.

The double-sounding sound, 'chick-a-d-d', meaning 'd' twice, is an alarm about a low-risk, such as a black owl. Black owls are so large that they can't turn quickly and catch fast-moving chicks, so they're not a serious threat. On the contrary, it is not difficult for little owls to roam in these forests, so they are considered to be the most dangerous predators of small birds. When a Chick-A-D sees an owl, the number of 'D' notices in his voice increases, that is, the 'Chick-a-D-D-D' sound alarm sounds. From the number of these notices here, these small birds adopt different strategies for their protection.

The size of a group or a group also becomes important when a member is unable to defend resources --- and the ability to evaluate the number of members of your group compared to the number of attacking groups according to the situation Keeps changing

There has been a lot of research in the wild about mammals, and what they all have in common is that numerical superiority determines the outcome of their fight. In a major study, biologist Karen McComb and colleagues at the University of Sussex studied the natural response of a tiger to a sudden interference in the life of a tiger in Serengeti National Park. Researchers have found that wild animals respond to sounds made by a speaker, which is a threat. If it is played by a tiger that has come from somewhere else and can be dangerous for the environment, then the tiger will attack the loudspeaker very aggressively, considering it an enemy. In a study of their behavior with this sound, the authors heard the voices of hostile tiger tigers living in the area.

Tigers and tigers leap aggressively towards the intervening sound when they think their numbers outweigh the number of attackers --- a testament to the animal's ability to consider numerical information.

During this study, tigers were presented with two types of conditions: either the roar of a tiger or the roar of a group of three tigers together. The researchers wanted to know if the number of attackers and the number of victims had any effect on their self-defense strategy. Interestingly, a lone tiger was reluctant to respond to the roar of the tiger instead of clinging to the interfering tiger or the three tigers. However, the three tigers defending against the intrusion clung to the roaring sounds of an intervening tiger, but when the three intervening tigers were heard together, they did not cling to attack them.

Obviously, the chances of him getting injured in a fight with his three opponents were holding him back. If there were more than five tigers living in the area, the attackers would have jumped at the roar of three tigers. In other words, the tigers living in the area thought of attacking only when they heard the roar of the attacking tigers when their own numbers were high ---- this is another example that Able to use in calculations.

Chimpanzees, which have the closest resemblance to humans, have a similar attitude. Michael Wilson of Harvard University and his colleagues discovered that chimpanzees reacted like military experts by using alarm bells from speakers. They instinctively worked on similar formulas that soldiers use to gauge the strength of their opponents. Chimpanzees, in particular, follow Lancaster's Square Law model. This model predicts whether a chimpanzee will be able to compete with an enemy when fighting between two warring factions. When chimpanzees usually see one and a half times as many as their enemies, they fight, especially wild chimpanzees.

Scientifically, survival is the only way to achieve your goal, and the real goal is to promote your genes. In food-borne insects (tenibrio molecules), several males try to mate with several females, and this is a very tough competition. Therefore, a male worm will move towards several female insects so that they can create maximum opportunities for their mating. After mating, this male protects the female insects so that they cannot mate with other male insects. The more a male insect has had intercourse with other male insects before mating, the longer it will protect it after mating with the female insect.

Obviously, this kind of behavior plays an important role in genocide, so it is important to adapt to it. The ability to guess numbers increases the male insect's ability to compete in mating. Perhaps it is this ability to understand more complex types of numbers that guides them in their evolutionary journey.

One might think that successful intercourse can win everything. But this is contrary to reality in the case of some animals, for which the real reward is the fertilization of their reproductive material with the eggs of insects. When a male worm has played a role in the game of intercourse in this process, its mammalian female is also fighting to fertilize with the insect's eggs. Because genocide is the most important goal in biology, the competition for the fertility of mankind causes a variety of changes in their behavior.

The ability of both insects and vertebrates to estimate the size of the male's competition determines the size and shape of his ejaculation during intercourse. For example, in a small species of scorpion, cordilocranes scorpioids, several male scorpions mate with a female scorpion. Obviously, the female sperm that is released from the first male intercourse is more likely to fertilize with the egg, while the male scorpions that have intercourse later have a lower chance of producing offspring. However, the discharge of semen is quite expensive, but the value of semen is determined by the probability that it will be fertilized with the egg.

The male sniffs his rival male scorpions who have previously mated with a female and then changes the ejaculation of their female sperm by sniffing different male scorpions, giving them zero chance of sniffing this change. There are levels from three to three.

The female monkey monitors her host's nests to see where she has gone and how many eggs have been laid since her first visit.

There are some species of birds that have discovered some tricks and methods that they use to hatch the eggs and raise the chicks from them with another bird. After all, creating a generation and then raising them is not an easy task. They lay their eggs in other people's nests and water them there with other birds and feed the new chicks hatching from them and also raise them for free by getting them reared. That is, they eat for free. Naturally, the host nests are not happy about this and try their best not to be exploited. And the strategy that host nesting birds have in this regard is to count their eggs.

The American duck, for example, tries to lay eggs in its neighbors' nests and hopes to feed its chicks. Obviously his neighbors try to avoid this deception. Research on ducks' natural state of life has shown that the birds that live in the nest where the ducks have to lay their eggs count their eggs and if one of them is added, they will Reject So ducks look at the number of their eggs and ignore the eggs of others.

And that kind of free-eating kind of thing is found in a bird called the Sar, a songbird from North America. In this type of bird, the female lays her eggs in the nests of other species of birds, ranging from small birds to the nests of large birds such as enamel. And then they have to be smart enough to raise their offspring better and have a brighter future.

And that kind of free-eating kind of thing is found in a bird called the Sar, a songbird from North America. In this type of bird, the female lays her eggs in the nests of other species of birds, ranging from small birds to the nests of large birds such as enamel. And then they have to be smart enough to raise their offspring better and have a brighter future.

Fertilizer eggs are hatched in a full twelve days, if only eleven days pass then it does not hatch and it is lost. It is therefore no coincidence that the host nests of manure eggs are those of birds that have eleven to sixteen days of hatching, and an average of twelve days. The host bird of the nest lays one egg per day --- when a day passes without laying eggs and no new eggs are added to the nest, then the host nest bird lays on the eggs. This means that the egg begins to hatch. It is important for the fertilizer not only to find a suitable nest but also to lay eggs at the right time. If the host lays eggs before the nesting bird, then the danger is that its eggs will be caught and destroyed. But if he lays his eggs late, it will be too late for the chicks to hatch.

David J. White and Grace Fred-Brown of the University of Pennsylvania believe that the female observes the number of eggs in the host bird's nest and then nests the host according to its incubation time. Adapts to the bird's time. This is a guarantee that the host nest bird has not yet started laying eggs. In addition, the sap seeks a nest where one egg is added each day after its first visit.

For example, if an egg is seen on the first visit to the host's nest, it will lay its egg when there are three eggs in the host's nest on the third day. If there are fewer eggs in this nest than the number of days that have passed since its first visit, then it will be understood that the process of hatching has begun, then there will be its own eggs. Will be of no use. This is an incredibly complex task of thinking and doing numerical tasks because the female has to circle the host's nest several times a day, remembering the size of the nesting space in the nest, the number of eggs last. Reviewing the change from now on, memorizing the number of days that have passed, and then reviewing the numbers to see if it lays eggs here.

But that is not all. Mother Sar shows even more tricks to further her plan. She monitors the places where she lays her eggs. To protect their eggs, all the birds move together like mafia gangsters. If Sar finds out that their eggs have been destroyed or removed from the host nest, she takes revenge by destroying the host nest's own eggs, piercing their eggs, or killing them. Pulls it out of the nest. The health of the host nest bird is that it hatches the eggs of the manure and also feeds their chicks, otherwise they will have to pay a heavy price. For the host parent bird, perhaps, in terms of compromising the situation, it is better for them to bear the pain of being hatching another bird's egg.

The essence is a great example of how the evolutionary process has enabled certain species to reproduce their genes. In the current evolutionary process, the pressure to choose a better path, whether it is the invisible effects of the environment or the pressure of other animals, forces these bird populations to either retain their genes or change themselves. Do as their circumstances require. If numbers help them in their struggle to survive and spread their race, they will surely appreciate and trust it.

It shows how widespread the skill of numbers is in different creatures: it has evolved because it was discovered by their ancestors and then passed on to the next generation, or all the living birds. I was invented.

One thing can be said with certainty, apart from the essence of its evolutionary journey --- the ability to comprehend numbers is the ability to adapt.