Clever Corvids: responsese without neurons (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, September 02, 2015, 22:57 (3370 days ago) @ David Turell

This study of a simple marine animal without neurons is an example of how simple chemical responses can control an animal's feeding technique:-http://phys.org/news/2015-09-animal-synapses-external-digestion-global.html-"They observed that when Trichoplax glides over a patch of algae, its cilia stop beating and it ceases moving, which indicates its ability to control its the entire body. The authors then found that cells of a certain cell type, called lipophils, simultaneously secretes granules whose contents rapidly break down the algae. This secretion appears to be targeted, indicating that the organism has local control, as only lipophils near algae released the granules. Trichoplax also appeared to pause while the algal content was ingested, and then resumed gliding. "- Comment: All of this can be mediate d by chemically sensing the presence of algae, and chemically signaling the feeding process.