Thanks, Max. Never thought to ask that in Q&A.
Hmm, only sharks can sense electromagnetic fields, dolphins use echolocation. Perhaps these species can also pick up the slight radiation of the electromagnetic field, their own and other creatures, rebounding off of objects so they can sense their environment also...? (since dolphins sense the rebounding sound waves from objects, and Lanning references dolphins also, I suppose).
Either that or the environment gives out a lesser amount of this electroradiation. It's obvious they can sense the walls, floor, and small or thin objects (notably the webs of the Paramites). Perhaps that of the planet, and where it is interrupted in even the tiniest ways.
Lorne's answer suggests that they can sense the entire environment and not just living prey.
Or it could just be more beyond our understanding and more dissimilar from the senses utilised by sharks or dolphins than I realise.

You’re assuming they don’t also use more familiar senses, albeit with potential perceptions that exceed our own. Paramites and Slogs clearly have senses of smell and hearing, and Scrabs have hearing too. One theory I liked back in the day was that Paramites could sense vibrations in the ground and use them to work out a (non-pictorial) picture of their environment.

or sonar. scrabs have the right beak shape to project a high pitched noise. Slogs whine when blown up, maybe that's misdone sonar resulting in death.

Or maybe the Slogs whine because they're dying? I think I would. Anything disturbing to them, such as the explosive rings in AO, that make the Slogs whine when passing through them. I don't recall if this occurs anywhere in AE.

Smell is obvious. Vibrations may, again, need some form of source, unless it's sensitive enough to work an idea from almost nothing. The feet of Scrabs and Paramites could do that, on stone picking it up easily, and soft soil they dig in slightly giving them more reception surface area. But then, Slogs and Meeches don't have similar feet for that, and they otherwise look somewhat unlikely candidates for sensing vibrations. At the very least they have the basic visual sense stated by Lorne, at least hearing and smell will be heightened above that of us. Those just aren't necessarily practical for rapid environment sensing, smell particularly/at least.

I like the idea of them using electroreceptors ala monotremes

I have an interesting question about slogs.

Throughout the course of the Oddworld series, they have constantly appeared as non-possessable enemies. But I managed to possess one in the GBA version of Munch's Oddysee.

My question is this: Can they be possessed in any other games? If so, what is it like to control them and are they actually useful?

They can be possessed in the xBox version of MO. They're not very useful other than to kill other slogs.

OK. Thanks Nate!

Just quickly on the topic of possessing things in MO, I think it's really wierd that if you possess a Paramite, you can kill another Paramite with it. Or is that only in the GBA version?

I don’t remember Paramites in MO GBA. Only Scrabs.

They first appeared in the GBA version in "Level 8 - Journey", the first part of the area called Break Wind Hill (I laugh everytime I hear that).

They also (randomly) appear in the last level, 2nd screen.

I'll have to revisit MO sometime and check out all the funky things you can do with possessed animals. Slogs are an enigma. Don't forget, they can cram like 40 into one of those tiny Slog pens!