scholarly journals Magnetic compass orientation in two strictly subterranean rodents: learned or species-specific innate directional preference?

2012 ◽  
Vol 215 (20) ◽  
pp. 3649-3654 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Oliveriusova ◽  
P. Nemec ◽  
Z. Kralova ◽  
F. Sedlacek
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Compass ◽  
Subterranean Rodents ◽  
Compass Orientation ◽  
Magnetic Compass Orientation ◽  
Directional Preference ◽  
Species Specific

Lateralisation of magnetic compass orientation in silvereyes, Zosterops lateralis

2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Wiltschko ◽  
Ursula Munro ◽  
Hugh Ford ◽  
Roswitha Wiltschko
Keyword(s):  
Geomagnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Compass ◽  
Compass Orientation ◽  
Directional Information ◽  
Zosterops Lateralis ◽  
Magnetic Compass Orientation ◽  
Directional Preference ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain ◽  
The Magnetic Field

The ability of migratory silvereyes to orient was tested in the geomagnetic field with one eye covered. Silvereyes using only their right eye were able to orient in migratory direction just as well as birds using both eyes. Using only their left eye, however, the birds did not show a significant directional preference. These data indicate that directional information from the magnetic field is mediated almost exclusively by the right eye and processed by the left hemisphere of the brain. Together with corresponding findings from European robins and indications for a similar phenomenon in homing pigeons, they suggest that a strong lateralisation of the magnetic compass is widespread among birds.

Magnetic compass orientation in the blind mole rat Spalax ehrenbergi

2001 ◽  
Vol 204 (4) ◽  
pp. 751-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Kimchi ◽  
J. Terkel
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Compass ◽  
Food Store ◽  
Earth’S Magnetic Field ◽  
Compass Orientation ◽  
Spalax Ehrenbergi ◽  
Mole Rat ◽  
Earth's Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Compass Orientation ◽  
Directional Preference

The blind mole rat Spalax ehrenbergi is a solitary, subterranean rodent that digs and inhabits a system of branching tunnels, with no above-ground exits, which it never leaves unless forced to. To survive, the mole rat must be able to orient efficiently in its tunnel system. The sensory channels available for spatial orientation in the subterranean environment are restricted in comparison with those existing above ground. This study examined the possibility that the mole rat is able to perceive and use the earth's magnetic field to orient in space. Experiments were performed using a device constructed from a pair of electromagnetic ‘Helmholtz coils’, which create a magnetic field whose direction and strength can be altered. In the first experiment, we tested a group of mole rats (N=33) in an eight-armed maze under the earth's natural magnetic field to determine whether they have directional preferences for the location of their sleeping nest, food chamber and toilet site. A second group of mole rats (N=30) was tested for their directional preference after the earth's magnetic field had been experimentally shifted by 180 degrees. We found that the first group exhibited a significant preference (P<0.001) to build both their sleeping nest and their food store in the southern sector of the maze, whereas the second group shifted the location of their nests (P<0.01) and food store (P<0.05), to the northern sector of the maze, corresponding to the shift in the magnetic field. In the second experiment, we tested whether the magnetic compass orientation found in the first experiment depends on a light stimulus by testing a group of mole rats in the eight-armed maze under total darkness. No significant difference in directional preference between light and dark test conditions was observed. It can be concluded, therefore, that, in contrast to some amphibians and birds, magnetic compass orientation in the mole rat is independent of light stimulation. In the third experiment, we examined whether mole rats (N=24) use the earth's magnetic field as a compass cue to orient in a labyrinth. In the first stage (trials 1–13), the animals were trained to reach a goal box at the end of a complex labyrinth until all individuals had learned the task. In the second stage (trial 14), half the trained mole rats underwent another labyrinth trial under the earth's natural magnetic field, while the other half were tested under a magnetic field shifted by 180 degrees. We found a significant decrease (P<0.001) in performance of the mole rats tested under the shifted magnetic field compared with the group tested under the natural magnetic field. The findings from these experiments prove that the mole rat is able to perceive and use the earth's magnetic field to orient in space.

Auditory and Magnetic Compass Orientation in C57BL/6 mice

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Phillips ◽  
R. Muheim ◽  
N. M. Edgar ◽  
K. S. Sloan
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Compass ◽  
Compass Orientation ◽  
Magnetic Compass Orientation

scholarly journals Magnetic compass orientation

Nature ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 362 (6422) ◽  
pp. 703-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Lohmann
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Compass ◽  
Compass Orientation ◽  
Magnetic Compass Orientation

scholarly journals Magnetic Compass Orientation in the European Eel

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. e59212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline M. F. Durif ◽  
Howard I. Browman ◽  
John B. Phillips ◽  
Anne Berit Skiftesvik ◽  
L. Asbjørn Vøllestad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Compass ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Compass Orientation ◽  
Magnetic Compass Orientation

Learned magnetic compass orientation by the Siberian hamster, Phodopus sungorus

2003 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 779-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark E. Deutschlander ◽  
Michael J. Freake ◽  
S.Christopher Borland ◽  
John B. Phillips ◽  
Robert C. Madden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Compass ◽  
Phodopus Sungorus ◽  
Compass Orientation ◽  
Siberian Hamster ◽  
Magnetic Compass Orientation
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