He was talking about the "extra sensory perception" of animals. ie things they "pick up" that we don't.
Like different sizes and shapes of vocal elements and auditory elements allowing for the production and perception of sounds humans cannot? Or the fact that bees can see in the ultaviolet, or snakes in the infrared? Or the fact that dogs have much more sensitive smell, both in intensity and variety? Or...?
How is that extra sensory? Maybe extra human-sensory, but still not unphysical nor supernatural. We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
The Register: Cat senses impending death
Dr David Dosa, also of of Brown University, elaborated that on one occasion Oscar had curled up on a female patient's bed, prompting staff to "make calls and set up vigil". When the family arrived, the grandson asked his mother why the cat was there, and she explained: "He is here to help Grandma get to heaven." Grandma died an hour later. Thomas Graves, a feline expert and chief of small animal medicine at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, described Oscar's actions as "such a cat thing to do", but admitted: "Those things are hard to study. I think probably dogs and cats can sense things we can't." Dr Teno concluded: "I don't think this is a psychic cat. I think there's probably a biochemical explanation."
Dr David Dosa, also of of Brown University, elaborated that on one occasion Oscar had curled up on a female patient's bed, prompting staff to "make calls and set up vigil". When the family arrived, the grandson asked his mother why the cat was there, and she explained: "He is here to help Grandma get to heaven." Grandma died an hour later.
Thomas Graves, a feline expert and chief of small animal medicine at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, described Oscar's actions as "such a cat thing to do", but admitted: "Those things are hard to study. I think probably dogs and cats can sense things we can't."
Dr Teno concluded: "I don't think this is a psychic cat. I think there's probably a biochemical explanation."
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
Wikipedia: Ethology
Lorenz's collaborator, Niko Tinbergen, argued that ethology always needed to pay attention to four kinds of explanation in any instance of behaviour: Function: how does the behaviour impact on the animal's chances of survival and reproduction? Causation: what are the stimuli that elicit the response, and how has it been modified by recent learning? Development: how does the behaviour change with age, and what early experiences are necessary for the behaviour to be shown? Evolutionary history: how does the behaviour compare with similar behaviour in related species, and how might it have arisen through the process of phylogeny?
Lorenz's collaborator, Niko Tinbergen, argued that ethology always needed to pay attention to four kinds of explanation in any instance of behaviour:
