On April 8th, while most people in the United States will be staring into the sky (preferably wearing appropriate safety glasses), animals will have no idea what’s going on.
That’s natural, right? For animals, the sun constitutes their entire life. Without energy drinks and late-night TV to disrupt their sleep schedules, the sun is an all-in-one alarm clock, sleeping pill, and calendar for animals.
In 2017, a team of researchers studied how different animals responded to a total solar eclipse in the United States.
“Basically, everything we’ve ever heard about animal behavior during a solar eclipse can reasonably be considered anecdotal from a scientific perspective.” Professor Adam Hartstone Rose says the person who led the research. BBC Science Focus.
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Hartstone-Rose and his team observed the behavior of 17 species at Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina. This is the first time such a study has been conducted. What did they find? Now, how animals behave during a total solar eclipse varies dramatically, from not at all bothersome to downright weird…
Strange ways animals may react to solar eclipses
Heartstone-Rose said animals responded to celestial events in one of four ways. These include not responding at all, starting nighttime routines, showing anxiety, and exhibiting new behaviors.
“Most animals fall into a category that we call related to circadian rhythms. So basically, animals treat solar eclipses as if they were evening, then night, then morning; “I get into a routine,” he says.
Similar nighttime routines have been widely reported for other eclipses. As the moon passes in front of the sun, expect birds to quiet down and crickets and cicadas to become more active.
The next largest behavioral category was, somewhat sadly, anxiety-related behaviors. For example, evidence gathered by Hartstone-Rose and her research team suggests that if you’re near a giraffe during a solar eclipse, you should stay well away from them.
“During the peak of the eclipse, the giraffes started running around like crazy and in potentially dangerous ways,” Hartstone-Rose explains.
“Giraffes in the wild are very gentle animals. They’re a little bit wild and sensitive. They don’t do crazy things unless they have to, so when I saw giraffes running around…, only when startled by a predator, vehicle, etc.”
Thankfully, any disturbing behavior didn’t last long. “The good news is that all of the animal’s behavior returns to normal very quickly, literally within minutes.”
But what about these so-called “novel” behaviors? This is where things get weird.
The siamang is a type of gibbon that lives in the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Although they look cute, they are known to be very noisy and have large throat pouches.use their heads to help sing.
The research team recorded the calls of the siamang during and for several days before and after the eclipse, and found that it emitted a unique call during the totality. It was something they had never heard before.
“We were able to statistically show that vocalizations during a solar eclipse are much different than at any other time we’ve been able to record vocalizations,” Hartstone-Rose says. “That was pretty remarkable.”
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The prize for the strangest solar eclipse behavior is… giant tortoise?
If anxious runs and strange songs weren’t enough, Riverbanks Zoo’s Galapagos tortoises took their reaction to the solar eclipse to a different level.
“Galapagos tortoises are not charismatic animals,” Hartstone-Rose says. “They’re like weird looking rocks that can live to be well over 100 years old.”
According to stereotypes, they are not particularly fast moving and the males Weight is over 227 kg making it the largest turtle species on Earth.
When the sun eclipsed the moon in 2017, Galapagos tortoises started doing something unexpected. They literally started breeding right before our eyes. “
Therefore, a solar eclipse may lift your turtle’s mood. Did anyone know?
How can I participate this time?
After 2017’s surprising discoveries, researchers hope to do even more this year.
Hartstone-Rose and a team of researchers plan to observe animal behavior at the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas. They will observe and compare some of the same species and new species from 2017.
But you don’t have to be a trained researcher to help scientists understand animal behavior during this once-in-a-lifetime event.
“The really exciting research we’re doing is solar eclipse safari project” says Heartstone Rose.
If you want to participate, just choose the animal you want to observe, whether it’s a dog, cat, domestic animal, or natural animal.
You don’t have to go down the path of perfection either. There will be at least a partial solar eclipse across the United States on April 8, and researchers want to know whether the severity of the eclipse affects behavior.
Before you worry that you’ll miss the eclipse itself because you’re too busy checking to see if your dog is scratching its ears, don’t worry. Data collection only takes a few seconds every few minutes, so you still have time to understand everything.
Why study animals during a solar eclipse?
While understanding how different animals behave during a solar eclipse may seem interesting to some, it is ultimately a pointless endeavor. Fair point. Although there is some method to madness.
First, Hartstone-Rose points out that it’s important to understand which animals exhibit anxiety.
“If solar eclipses are upsetting, or if the human response to solar eclipses is upsetting, that’s important information for us to know. For example, giraffes really If it runs around, it may be ethical to move the giraffe indoors during the next solar eclipse.
“At the end of the day, we don’t want them to hurt themselves.”
Even more poignantly, he thinks this could answer some of the big questions about our relationship with animals.
“One of the big questions, and anyone who has a pet dog or cat knows this, is what’s going on inside this animal’s head. Do you know? ? What is my dog thinking at any given moment? People have such questions not only about dogs, but about all their favorite animals.”
Perhaps by understanding how animals respond to one of the most unique and fascinating experiences on earth, we can move one step closer to solving the mystery.
About our experts
adam hartstone rose He is a professor of biological sciences at North Carolina State University. His research typically focuses on anatomical adaptations (e.g. feeding experiments), muscle examination (e.g. masticatory muscles), and analysis of bones and teeth in live animals. In 2017, he led a study on animal behavior during a total solar eclipse at Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina.
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
