It always puzzled me that certain animals are born with abilities or understandings of things they have never experienced.
In: Biology
Depends, the simplest way to demonstrate this is by first understanding natural selection. With natural selection organisms that better adapt to their environment are more likely to survive and as a result are more likely to mate, and this have offspring.
There are 2 types of adaptations that allow organisms to survive, physical and behavioral. To imagine a physical adaptation, think of a polar bear. It has white fur, which is convenient because it lives in an all white environment. Thus it has a much easier time blending in with it’s environment. Making it a better hunter and more likely to survive and produce offspring.
Behavioral adaptations are behaviors an organism exhibits that better allow it to survive this increasing it’s likelihood to survive. For example birds that migrate south in the winter. Because northern climates have less availability for food in the winter, a bird that migrates has a higher likelihood of not starving to death and thus more likely to survive and produce offspring.
Instincts are merely behavioral adaptations embedded in the generic material of organisms. Example, you might hear a loud noise and instinctively look in the direction because your instinct is to identify danger. Because that behavior allowed your ancestors a better chance at survival. They simply passed it down to you.
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