What Animal Passes The Most Knowledge On Within Its Genetics?
I was watching some spiders clean and repair their webs after some ash from my ciggy hit their webs, and I found it fascinating that they hatch with the precise knowledge needed to build, use, clean and maintain a web.
So is there a creature born/hatched with even more precise knowledge? Or is this something very few creatures actually do.
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Comments on What Animal Passes The Most Knowledge On Within Its Genetics?
There is no evidence to support the idea that knowledge is passed on to offspring. Your chromosomes carry genetic information as a sequence of organic bases arranged along the length of the chromosomes in your nuclei. Acquired knowledge or even characteristsics are not passed on to offspring. It would be like saying that I could exercise and build up my body and then nay child I had would be muscular and fit! Animals are born with innate behaviour patterns that allow them to do things instinctively, such as web-spinning in spiders or swimming in ducklings. Even humans have basic innate patterns such as the grip reflex used to test new born babies. Some tribes used to throw ne born babies into th river and only keep those who managed to reach the side by “swimming” – an innate response. In this way they thought the child was “strong” and would grow up to be a useful member of the tribe.
An animal that successfully mates (leading to offspring being born) will pass on their genetics. So, whatever the parents knew (genetically) will be passed onto the kids. Some things are learned and some things are just known. I assume that spiders just know when their web needs to be fixed. In some animals, like cats, the kittens have to learn by experience, in how they are to interact with other cats.
Dolphins are very intelligent and there may be more creatures with precise knowledge. All animals are very interesting, and one should study up on them.
Most animals gain there knowledge due to instinct, and learning from there parents. But as far as knowledge goes the only animals I can think of that could pass knowledge would be Elephants, Dolphins, and Whales
This is a pretty deep question. You are not asking about intelligence but about innate behavior coded in the genes. All animals have innate behavior encoded in their genes, but sometimes very complex-looking behavior can be explained by very simple rules. This is called “emergent behavior” by zoologists.
I would be hard pressed to say which animal has the most complex innate behavior. You could cite complex bird songs, bizarre nest building by bower birds, ant colony building and activity, your spider web, etc.
It depends on what you mean by knowledge. In terms of learned behaviors, no animal passes them on to their offspring. Only instinctive behaviors are passed on.
The problem with instinctive behaviors is that they are hard-wired and can’t be changed. This is ideal for stable environments, but not so good for changing environments which require more flexibility for behavior.
All animals insects are born with amazing knowledge. How about a little kangaroo, blind and about two inches long that is born, crawls up it’s mothers belly until it comes to the pouch, crawls in and attaches itself to a teet, and grows up in there. Or a tiny little ant that operates in perfect harmony with millions of others and knows exactly what it’s job is. All nature is amazing