Homing (biology)
Encyclopedia
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
to navigate towards an original location
Location (geography)
The terms location and place in geography are used to identify a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term 'location' generally implies a higher degree of can certainty than "place" which often has an ambiguous boundary relying more on human/social attributes of place identity...
through unfamiliar areas. This location may be either a home territory, or a breeding spot.
Uses
Homing abilities can be used to find the way back to home in a migration. It is often used in reference to going back to a breeding spot seen years before, as in the case of salmonSalmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
. Homing abilities can also be used to go back to familiar territory when displaced over long distances, such as with the red-bellied newt
Red-bellied Newt
The Red-bellied newt is a newt, native to coastal woodlands in northern California, which is terrestrial for most of its life.-Physical description:...
.
True navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
for their homing. This means in familiar areas they will use landmarks such as roads, rivers or mountains when flying, or islands and other landmarks while swimming. However, this only works in familiar territory. Homing pigeon
Homing pigeon
The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon derived from the Rock Pigeon selectively bred to find its way home over extremely long distances. The wild rock pigeon has an innate homing ability, meaning that it will generally return to its own nest and its own mate...
s, for example, will often navigate using familiar landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
s, such as roads. Sea turtle
Sea turtle
Sea turtles are marine reptiles that inhabit all of the world's oceans except the Arctic.-Distribution:...
s will also use landmarks to orient themselves.
Magnetic orientation
Many animals use magnetic orientation based on the Earth's magnetic fieldEarth's magnetic field
Earth's magnetic field is the magnetic field that extends from the Earth's inner core to where it meets the solar wind, a stream of energetic particles emanating from the Sun...
to find their way home. This is usually used together with other methods, such as a sun compass, as in bird migration and in the case of turtles. This is also commonly used when no other methods are available, as in the case of lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
s, which live underwater, and mole rat
Blesmol
The blesmols, also known as mole rats, or African mole-rats, are burrowing rodents of the family Bathyergidae. They represent a distinct evolution of a subterranean life among rodents much like the pocket gophers of North America, the tuco-tucos in South America, or the Spalacidae.- Distribution...
s, which home through their underground burrow
Burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel dug into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements, so the burrowing way of life is quite popular among the...
s.
Celestial orientation
Celestial orientation, navigation using the stars, is commonly used for homing. Displaced marbled newtMarbled Newt
The Marbled Newt is a mainly terrestrial newt native to Europe.-Physical description:Marbled newts have dark brown or black bodies with irregular patterns of green. They have black bellies with off-white specks. Adult females have an orange stripe running down the back from the head to the tip of...
s, for example, can only home when stars are visible.
Olfaction
There is evidence that olfactionOlfaction
Olfaction is the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates...
, or smell, is used in homing with several salamanders, such as the red-bellied newt
Red-bellied Newt
The Red-bellied newt is a newt, native to coastal woodlands in northern California, which is terrestrial for most of its life.-Physical description:...
. Olfaction is also necessary for the homing of salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
.
Topographic memory
Topographic memory, memory of the contours surrounding the destination, is one common method for navigation. This is mainly used by animals with less intelligence, such as molluscs. LimpetLimpet
Limpet is a common name for a number of different kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails ; it is applied to those snails that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snails.The name limpet is most...
s use this to find their way back to the home scrape; although whether this is true homing has been disputed.