January 15, 2010
Clever Stingrays Show Their Smarts
These fish use jets of water as a tool to obtain food.
Clever Stingrays Show Their Smarts
These fish use jets of water as a tool to obtain food.
SUMMARY: Freshwater stingrays know how to use water to solve problems,
scientists have revealed. In tests run by researchers from Israel, Austria and
the U.S., the fish used jets of water as a tool to extract food from a plastic pipe.
This experiment reveals stingrays, once thought to be a "simple reflex animal",
have cognitive abilities that rival birds, reptiles and mammals. Freshwater
stingrays are related to their ocean relatives and like sharks have skeletons
made of cartilage rather than bones. Scientists previously had assumed
cartilaginous fish have limited cognitive abilities.
The researchers also discovered the stingrays could discriminate between the
black and white ends of the tube and were able to use jets of water to dislodge
food stuck among plants on the surface of the fish tank. Only one other fish,
the archer fish, is known to shoot spurts of water from its mouth to dislodge
prey from leaves.
Dr. Michael Kuba from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said stingrays had
not been studied closely because they are bigger and more difficult to study
than other animals. Also, they had been considered to be merely reflex
machines with limited cognitive capacities. Kuba added, "They are members of
one of the oldest lines of vertebrates and to know more about their abilities will
help us to learn more about the evolution of cognition in vertebrates."
(Picture of a freshwater stingray from Wikimedia Commons.)
To read the entire article, click on this link to BBC NEWS.
COMMENT: Once again, we have a wonderful example of design in animals
and the intelligence given to them by their Creator. As the scientist Michael
Kuba seemed to indicate, scientists apparently don't have much of an idea as
to how cognition could have "evolved" in animals. They interpret everything
through evolution-tinted eyeglasses and don't see the Creator when they gaze
upon His wonderful creation.
Creationists don't need to worry about where and how such valuable features
in animals originated. We see the hand of God in all this and know He gave to
each creature right at the beginning the gifts it needed to survive in its own
habitat. Unfortunately, the introduction of sin into His creation has destroyed
much of what had been a perfect world. Now we see animals killing other
animals, humans destroying habitats, and species going extinct.
For a perfect world where there exists perfect knowledge and where sin and
death are unknown, we will have to wait until we are escorted to our future
homes in heaven. We will make this trip, and can only make this trip, if we
confess that we are sinners and come to faith in Jesus as the Savior from sin.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY
What is the unique feature of a coffee plant called coffea charrieriana?
It is the first known coffee bean that is caffeine free. This plant from Cameroon
could lead to commercial coffee trees that produce their own decaf.
Source: Discover (January/February, 2010)
***************************************************************************************
NOTE ON VISITOR COMMENTS: Visitor comments are invited including
those containing alternate views. However, comments containing profanity or
advertisements will not be published. After posting a comment, please allow
several hours for it to appear on the blog.
**************************************************************************************
scientists have revealed. In tests run by researchers from Israel, Austria and
the U.S., the fish used jets of water as a tool to extract food from a plastic pipe.
This experiment reveals stingrays, once thought to be a "simple reflex animal",
have cognitive abilities that rival birds, reptiles and mammals. Freshwater
stingrays are related to their ocean relatives and like sharks have skeletons
made of cartilage rather than bones. Scientists previously had assumed
cartilaginous fish have limited cognitive abilities.
The researchers also discovered the stingrays could discriminate between the
black and white ends of the tube and were able to use jets of water to dislodge
food stuck among plants on the surface of the fish tank. Only one other fish,
the archer fish, is known to shoot spurts of water from its mouth to dislodge
prey from leaves.
Dr. Michael Kuba from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said stingrays had
not been studied closely because they are bigger and more difficult to study
than other animals. Also, they had been considered to be merely reflex
machines with limited cognitive capacities. Kuba added, "They are members of
one of the oldest lines of vertebrates and to know more about their abilities will
help us to learn more about the evolution of cognition in vertebrates."
(Picture of a freshwater stingray from Wikimedia Commons.)
To read the entire article, click on this link to BBC NEWS.
COMMENT: Once again, we have a wonderful example of design in animals
and the intelligence given to them by their Creator. As the scientist Michael
Kuba seemed to indicate, scientists apparently don't have much of an idea as
to how cognition could have "evolved" in animals. They interpret everything
through evolution-tinted eyeglasses and don't see the Creator when they gaze
upon His wonderful creation.
Creationists don't need to worry about where and how such valuable features
in animals originated. We see the hand of God in all this and know He gave to
each creature right at the beginning the gifts it needed to survive in its own
habitat. Unfortunately, the introduction of sin into His creation has destroyed
much of what had been a perfect world. Now we see animals killing other
animals, humans destroying habitats, and species going extinct.
For a perfect world where there exists perfect knowledge and where sin and
death are unknown, we will have to wait until we are escorted to our future
homes in heaven. We will make this trip, and can only make this trip, if we
confess that we are sinners and come to faith in Jesus as the Savior from sin.
***************************************************************************************
Want to be automatically notified each time there is a new post? Just e-mail
your request to [admin@lutheranscience.org].
***************************************************************************************
QUESTION OF THE DAY
What is the unique feature of a coffee plant called coffea charrieriana?
It is the first known coffee bean that is caffeine free. This plant from Cameroon
could lead to commercial coffee trees that produce their own decaf.
Source: Discover (January/February, 2010)
***************************************************************************************
NOTE ON VISITOR COMMENTS: Visitor comments are invited including
those containing alternate views. However, comments containing profanity or
advertisements will not be published. After posting a comment, please allow
several hours for it to appear on the blog.
**************************************************************************************
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| LSI stands for the Lutheran Science Institute, an organization of WELS and ELS Lutherans interested in science and health issues with a special emphasis on the creation and evolution controversy. This blog's purpose is to search the Internet to find articles of interest to Christians. Views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Lutheran Science Institute, Inc. |