Tukuxi dolphins use electrical signals to find their prey

2011/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

In the criminal of the German zoo Allwetterzoo Münster they discover that the tukuxi dolphins use the electroreceptors to find their prey. Through them, all animals detect the weak electrical zones that we generate and determine the location of the dams.

As scientists have explained, tukuxi dolphins live in very turbulent waters, with muddy sediments (on the eastern coast of Central and South America), so their vision is very limited.

At the death of an Izurdetegi dolphin, extreme tissue samples were taken to study its holes. Researchers believe that dolphin ancestors had moustaches in the place where current ones have holes. In his study, however, there have been no evidence of hair holes in the holes, but they are similar to the electrocaptors that present some species of fish, including ornithorrinos. According to them, in all these species, the electroreceptors have appeared independently, that is, by convergence.