• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Bottlenose dolphins found to be one of the only mammals in the world with a 'seventh sense'

Home> News> Animals

Published 18:27 17 Jul 2024 GMT+1

Bottlenose dolphins found to be one of the only mammals in the world with a 'seventh sense'

Forget about taste and smell - dolphins have a whole other sense to experience

Bec Oakes

Bec Oakes

As well as being super smart, great swimmers and generally cool animals, bottlenose dolphins have another thing going for them: a seventh sense.

Most of us use all of our senses every day, but since it might have been a while since you've been in science class, allow me to remind you of the big five.

We have taste, touch, smell, hearing and sight, and they all have their part to play. After all, what's a good meal if you can't take in how good it looks, or enjoy the aromas making your mouth water first?

These five senses are obviously enough for us, but bottlenose dolphins have proved their superiority over humans by throwing in an additional sense.

Scientists had previously found that dolphins have a line of sensitive pores on their snouts - known as vibrissal crypts - which are rich in nerve endings, making them extremely sensitive.

Advert

In 2022, a study found that the holes allow them to detect weak electric fields in water.

However, scientists initially no idea just how weak those fields could be.

That was, until researchers at the University of Rostock and Nuremberg Zoo in Germany, conducted an experiment on two captive dolphins named Dolly and Donna.

Researchers have found that small holes on a dolphin's snout can detect weak electric currents in water. (Getty Stock Image)
Researchers have found that small holes on a dolphin's snout can detect weak electric currents in water. (Getty Stock Image)

Advert

The dolphins were trained to rest their snouts against a metal bar with electrodes in the water, after which they were provided with a randomly generated stimulus -

either an electrical stimulus, or nothing at all.

Using the tasty snack of fish to help teach the dolphins, the creatures learned to swim away from the bar if they sensed something, but stay put if they didn't feel any stimulus.

The experiment found that the dolphins could use the holes on their snouts to sense electric fields as weak as 2.4 and 5.5 microvolts per centimeter.

Advert

While dolphins are not as sensitive to electric fields as sharks and rays, they are capable of similarly using electroreception to detect weak electric fields from the bodies of their prey when hunting, scientists found.

This electroreception could prove itself to be handy when hunting for prey and when orientating themselves in relation to the Earth's magnetic field. (Getty Stock Image)
This electroreception could prove itself to be handy when hunting for prey and when orientating themselves in relation to the Earth's magnetic field. (Getty Stock Image)

Discussing the findings, lead researcher Guido Dehnhardt said: "The sensitivity to weak electric fields helps a dolphin search for fish hidden in sediment over the last few centimetres before snapping them up."

He also believes that dolphins' ability to sense electricity can help them in other areas, for example in orientating themselves in relation to the Earth’s magnetic field.

Advert

I think it's safe to say dolphins have some good sense!

Featured Image Credit: Francois Gohier/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Topics: News, Science, Animals

Bec Oakes
Bec Oakes

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

5 hours ago
6 hours ago
  • 5 hours ago

    America’s ‘harshest’ death row prison gives shocking new privileges to killer inmates

    One death row inmate has said the new scheme has given him hope

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    Andy Byron's company speaks out after married CEO was caught with employee on Coldplay kiss cam

    The viral video has got people all over the internet talking

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    Woman diagnosed with brain tumor after dismissing symptoms as a cold that wouldn’t go away

    Amanda Hyne, from Connecticut, initially thought her symptoms were down to 'mom stress'

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    Harvard professor reveals the most important thing marriages need to survive

    Arthur Brooks, American academic and author, made his opinion known on a podcast last year

    News
  • There's only nine eternal flames in the world and one is inside a waterfall
  • Scientists reveal there's a new rarest eye color that only 1% of the population has
  • Study reveals 'scary' sign of COVID that can be found in the body years after infection
  • Scientists have found 'potentially significant' proof of a major bible story