Communication and emotion in plants and animals

The Maison de la Nature has been transformed into a forest. Slender trunks, shivering foliage, red and white mushrooms, this sylvan setting is home to deer, lynx, wolves, badgers and other woodland inhabitants. We discover that they all interact and use their senses to mark out a territory, attract a mate, communicate with family members, find their bearings in space, feed or signal the presence of danger.

To each his own. Wolves use body postures and facial expressions to communicate within the pack. In this way, they show their social position. To mark their territory, felids urinate and leave scents. Deer use their vocal cords to emit powerful bellowing sounds to attract females. Some birds are able to reproduce sounds such as ringing telephones or alarms.            

After sensory skills, the second part of the exhibition turns to emotions. Fear, joy, empathy and anger help animals to react to danger, bond with others and live in groups. Mutual grooming plays a key role in social cohesion. A lammergeier's eye darkens in response to stress. And plants are no exception. They can warn neighboring plants of an aggression, ask an insect for help, or form a partnership with other plants. The exhibition runs until November 9 at the Maison de la Nature.


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.