Study identifies liver macrophages as key to pigeon magnetoreception under overcast skies
By
Christian Kurts
Summary
Researchers have discovered that homing pigeons use superparamagnetic macrophages (iron-containing immune cells) in their livers for magnetoreception and navigation, particularly under overcast conditions when solar cues are unavailable. The study by Lisowski et al. found that when these magnetic macrophages were depleted, pigeons could not navigate home on cloudy days, revealing a previously unknown physiological mechanism for geomagnetic field detection in birds.
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Twitter / XStudy identifies liver macrophages as key to pigeon magnetoreception under overcast skiesscim.agKey quotes
· 3 pulledIt has long been known that birds rely, at least in part, on magnetoreception to orient their movements.
Lisowski et al. have now identified the presence of superparamagnetic macrophages in the liver.
On cloudy days when they could not see the sun, pigeons whose magnetic macrophages had been depleted were unable to navigate home.
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