Study suggests homing pigeons may navigate using iron-laden liver immune cells as a magnetic compass
By
Elizabeth Pennisi
11h ago· 5 min readenNews
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Summary
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior tested whether homing pigeons use iron-laden immune cells in their livers as a magnetic compass for navigation. By releasing pigeons with disabled magnetic immune cells, they investigated the long-debated mechanism of how birds sense Earth's magnetic fields. The study points to specialized liver immune cells containing iron clusters as a potential biological compass, contributing to the ongoing scientific debate about animal magnetoreception.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledFor decades, researchers have fiercely debated first if and then how birds sense magnetic fields and use them for navigation.
One prominent idea in...
By releasing homing pigeons with disabled magnetic immune cells, researchers tested whether the birds needed these cells to find their way back to the roost.
How animals navigate by Earth's magnetic field is hotly debated. New research in pigeons points to iron-laden liver immune cells as the compass.
