r/AnimalsBeingStrange 6d ago

Funny animal The turtle get scare.

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11.4k Upvotes

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u/AUREL-FOR 6d ago

If it is an aquatic tortoise should have ancestral memory of it enemies

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u/ForeHand101 6d ago edited 6d ago

Not saying you're wrong, but calling it "ancestral memory" makes it sound like some sort of mystical thing when in reality their brain is just programmed to fear the general look and shape of sharks because those that didn't got killed by said sharks.

Literally the same reasons and ways humans have fear of things without usually having had a traumatizing encounter with said thing, yet we don't typically say humans have "ancestral memory". Sorry for the mini rant, just felt like I wanted to say it, so I did lol

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u/Several-Bluejay-190 4d ago

insanely pedantic. you could just let someone call instinct what they want.

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u/ForeHand101 4d ago

Well they didn't call it instinct, that's what I'm calling it (and you lol). They called it something that doesn't exist and some people will find misleading. Memory is not passed into offspring, fears and behaviors and whatnot are, but memory is unique to every individual.

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u/Several-Bluejay-190 4d ago

i can’t imagine being so wrong and obtuse at the same time honestly. your response is about what i expected tho just more irrelevant trash.

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u/NinjaDad_ 4d ago

Yeah, it seems like there's one "well actually" every thread if it gets big enough.

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u/AlexandriaLitehouse 4d ago

Yeah "ancestral memory" is just a succinct way of describing the biology to develop the fear of sharks even if you're a reptile wrapped in a blankie watching TV.

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u/ForeHand101 4d ago

It's misleading tho because there is no "memory" involved at all, it's just instinct. If memory got passed to offspring, then that's something we as animals would likely experience. But we dont and there's no evidence that any other animal experiences memory passed genetically. Fears and behaviors and whatnot can and often are passed genetically, but memories are unique to every individual.