Homing (biology)
When homing behavior (also: homing ability; engl. Homing ) is called in behavioral biology, the innate ability of an animal to return from an unknown starting point in one's own territory or to its own building, nest, stable or home blow.
A satisfactory explanation of the neurobiological mechanisms that allow the animals to the observable homing behavior, has not been found yet. In 1941 but had a Dutch ornithologist expressed the still valid presumption that - the magnetic sense seems to play an important role - as with the migratory birds.
Beginning in the late 1930s, especially the homing behavior of birds was first systematically studied and discussed its cause in professional journals. Pioneered here especially Werner Rüppell. Early studies by Albrecht Bethe had been considered as early as 1902 but the behavior of insects. Other researchers studied mice, and later director of the Frankfurt Zoo, Bernhard Grzimek explored during his service as a veterinarian a unit of cavalry during the Second World War, the homing ability of horses. Among the early species studied and comprised bats.
As a model animal for the study of homing behavior today are often used carrier pigeons, as they have long been bred to use them in flight competitions. In such competitions, the pigeons are transported by special trucks to a up to a thousand kilometers from the origin remote " Auflassplatz ", from where they will fly home. Since all stray, so not for native pigeon back place animals inevitably fail as future breeding stock, is in pigeons by this selection factor has always been a high selection pressure in the direction of homing behavior.
After decoding the dance language of honey bees Karl von Frisch addition to the birds, especially the bees were a favorite object of study.
Saltwater crocodiles can a study published in 2007, according to yet return of 400 km Distance to their home. Australian zoologists had several animals flown by helicopter from their coastal home area to a remote, also to the shore and exposed there. The 411 km with the most trafficked crocodile took only 20 days to get back into the fishing area along the coast. Zoologists of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service pointed out that crocodiles are relatively close related with birds and may have a similar orientation behavior like this, so a combination of sun compass and magnetic sense.