Case study of interpreting animal behavior

There's a cool study where Google has been used to look at cows, noticing that they tend to align themselves in a north-south direction, predominately north. The theory is that they have a magnetic (directional) capability in their brains, similar to whales, with whom they share evolutionary ancestry. OK, read the article then I'll point out how people so quickly settle on just one or two explanations.

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-cows26-2008aug26,0,3764260.story

snip

Cows are known to align their bodies facing uphill, facing into a strong wind to minimize heat loss or broadside to the sun on cold mornings to absorb heat, but the fact that the pictures were taken at many locations, at different times of day and in generally calm weather minimized the impact of environmental factors, the researchers said.

snip

What the benefit could be for cows, however, remains a mystery. It might help them find their way home, experts said, or perhaps it is simply a vestigial sense that is no longer used for any purpose.

Furthermore, the authors noted, no one has examined cows or deer to determine whether their brains contain magnetic particles.

Experts acknowledged that the research almost certainly has no practical applications.

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OK, this is a classic example of a brilliant observatory research study (use Google to just observe some aspect of animal behavior, without setting out to prove a theory, just observe). So just by using material that has become available something significant is noticed.

Then is the next step, which is to develop theories about what one is observing. This tends to fall into two parts, "how they do it" (magnetic capability) and "why they do it" (instinct from vestigial capability, or just saying who knows). This is where the research typically gets weak. There is a too rapid jump from observing something significant to immediately trying to hypothesize a "why."

Because there is no way to ask the cows, or to test this further, they quickly conclude there is no practical application. Well, giving it a whole 30 seconds of thought I can posit a how and why that is useful. Watch this:

Suppose cows have a magnetic sense, so they can distinguish directions and orient themselves accordingly. Well, think about their environs. Cows live all day in fields, exposed directly to the elements, most specifically, no matter where you are in the world, the sun. The researchers mention that thinking only of the heat (cows like to expose their sides to the sun if they are somewhat cold), but the researchers too quickly conclude that has no bearing on the study (because they observe the orientation through all variations of sunlight and heat).

But the sun does something else, as all cancer paranoid humans talk about today. It damages skin (no problem with cows who are covered with hair) but constant sun exposure also damages eyes. (This is why many humans are told to wear sunglasses when outdoors to protect the eyes from sun damage). Cows have huge eyeballs and are stuck in the sun all day. They can't close their eyes for hours on end because of the evolutionary need to watch against predators. So cows have instinctively evolved to use their vestigial magnetic detection capability to face north, away from the direct light of the sun on their eyes.

My theory demonstrates that it's not as simple as 1) has capability and 2) must have capability for one "reason." Usually animals (and people) have a capability that then is modified or utilized depending on a variety evolutionary and environmental circumstances. So cows have settled into a "best configuration" based on several factors, but the one factor true throughout the world is that cows are exposed to the sun's light in addition to it's heat, regardless of the season. Remember, snow blindness is a problem in the cold weather. So it is the light of the sun that cows have developed a self protective pattern regarding their eyes, not the heat of the sun (for which they have a different pattern, which is seek shade in the extreme heat, and expose the side to the sun to gain more heat when they are cold).

I hope you've found this useful. This is the way to more accurately and productively develop a series of hypotheses. Also, usefulness doesn't just mean applying it to cow pastoral practices, but observing what animals find "prudent" to do is useful in reinforcing or refuting theories that humans have about themselves. Thus I point out this very well might be a confirmation by cows that constant exposure of their eyes to the light of the sun is to be avoided. There's then further room for research, for example, noting directness of light, whether north or south hemisphere, etc. In other words, when you have a variety of theories you can do more fact finding of the data, rather than reach a self imposed brick wall by settling on a "one theory or nothing" mentality.