Giant Burmese pythons possess the instinct of "homing". As scientists have discovered, innate reflexes help snakes to return home after long walks.
Huge snakes can grow up to 5 meters in length, swallow whole adult deer and crocodiles, seriously disturbing the ecosystem in Florida's Everglades National Park (USA), the British newspaper The Independent writes. Attempts by pest control to track down and capture powerful reptiles have always been associated with serious difficulties. New research has shown that things can actually be more complicated.
According to a paper published in the journal of the Royal Society for Biology Letters, pythons, which were removed from the Everglades National Park to other habitats, were able to creep at least 46 kilometers in the direction of their home.
The study involved 12 large snakes, which are embedded under the skin of the tracking beacons. Then they were equally divided into two groups. The first group (control pythons) was left in place, and the second was taken aside, 21-37 kilometers from the park.
Observing the behavior of pythons, the scientists found that the second group was more purposeful and faster seeking to return home than their relatives from the control group.
We were very surprised, because we expected that the pythons would start looking for a new house for themselves where they were released. “No one even thought that they would begin to return to their former habitats,” said lead explorer Shannon Pittman, noting that python self-navigation is observed for the first time.
Snakes stuck to the right direction for 94 and 296 days, which in our case is long enough. This indicates that pythons are not just pursuing their long-term goals, they are strongly motivated to return home, ”researcher Kristen Hart added to her colleague.
According to experts, the assessment of the results of the study also implies the instinct of returning home and other species of snakes, which was not previously known. As a previous study showed, reptiles such as sea turtles can also orient themselves in space, but only in relation to their home.
Researchers suggest that the internal compass of pythons works with the help of stars, magnetic fields, smells and polarized light.
For several decades, pythons have become one of the main predators of the Everglades. They are accused of mass extermination of the number of mammals in the national park.
Understanding the navigation of invasive species will help control the population size of other animals, Ms. Hart concluded.
The article is based on materials .
Comments
Post a Comment