During a total solar eclipse, do tortoises become more romantic, do giraffes start galloping, and do apes sing unusual notes?

On April 8, scientists will be present to monitor the alteration of animal behaviors at Fort Worth Zoo in Texas when the sky temporarily darkens. In 2017, they had noted peculiar behavior in animals at a South Carolina zoo that experienced complete darkness.

According to a study published in the journal Animals, conducted by researcher Adam Hartstone-Rose from North Carolina State University, many of the animals displayed unexpected behaviors. This came as a surprise to the researchers.

In the past, there have been numerous reports of animals exhibiting strange behavior during eclipses. However, it is only in recent times that scientists have begun to thoroughly research the changes in behavior among wild, domestic, and zoo animals.

According to Hartstone-Rose, seven years prior at the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina, the typically lethargic Galapagos tortoises suddenly began mating during the height of an eclipse. The reason behind this unusual behavior remains unknown.

During the afternoon eclipse, a pair of Siamangs, which are typically known to communicate in the morning, sang unfamiliar melodies. In response to the event, some male giraffes started running in what seemed like a state of worry. The flamingos clustered around their young.

Scientists have observed that numerous animals exhibit behaviors associated with an early onset of nighttime.

In the month of April, the research team of Hartstone-Rose has scheduled to examine related species in Texas to determine if the behaviors previously observed in South Carolina reveal broader trends.

Various other zoos located along the route are also welcoming guests to assist in monitoring the movements of animals. These include zoos in Little Rock, Arkansas; Toledo, Ohio; and Indianapolis.

The solar eclipse that will occur this year in North America will follow a unique path compared to the one that happened in 2017. It will also happen during a different season, providing a chance for scientists and the general public to witness different phenomena.

“It’s really high stakes. We have a really short period to observe them and we can’t repeat the experiment,” said Jennifer Tsuruda, a University of Tennessee entomologist who observed honeybee colonies during the 2017 eclipse.

During the eclipse, the honeybees observed by Tsuruda reduced their foraging activities, similar to their behavior during nighttime, except for the bees from the most famished hives.

According to Olav Rueppell from the University of Alberta, bees experience a disturbance in their biological patterns and their surroundings during a solar eclipse. This is because bees depend on polarized sunlight for their navigation.

According to Nate Bickford, a scientist studying animals at Oregon Institute of Technology, solar eclipses behave similarly to swift, brief storms, causing the sky to darken and prompting numerous animals to seek shelter.

Following the 2017 solar eclipse, he examined information collected from monitoring devices that were previously attached to animals in the wild in order to investigate their habitat patterns. According to him, bald eagles in flight alter their velocity and course during an eclipse. Similarly, feral horses also exhibit changes in behavior, likely seeking shelter or reacting to the potential threat of a storm on the vast grasslands.

In August, the most recent total solar eclipse in the United States that covered the entire length of the country occurred. The upcoming April eclipse allows for researchers to inquire about potential effects on the migration of species during the spring season.

Many species of songbirds migrate during the night. Cornell University’s Andrew Farnsworth wondered if birds would mistake an eclipse’s dark conditions for nighttime and begin their migration.

The team intends to investigate this by examining weather radar data, which can also identify the existence of birds, bats, and insects, to determine if there is an increase in the number of birds flying during the eclipse.

According to Raffaela Lesch, a researcher at University of Arkansas, indoor pets may respond not only to changes in the sky during an eclipse, but also to their owners’ behavior, such as excitement or nonchalance.

She stated that dogs and cats are highly attentive to us, as well as being attuned to their internal clocks.

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Source: wral.com