Pigeons use iron-rich liver immune cells as magnetic compass for navigation
By
Jennifer Ouellette
A good honest bake. Not flashy, but you'll finish the whole bagel.
Summary
Research reveals that pigeons use iron-rich immune cells in their liver as magnetic sensors for navigation, complementing their sun-based orientation. In experiments, pigeons treated with clodronate (which depletes these cells) lost their magnetic navigation ability under overcast conditions but could still navigate using solar cues when the sun was out, demonstrating a dual-navigation system combining magnetic sensing and solar orientation.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledAll the pigeons in the control group successfully navigated their way back to the aviary; those that received the injections lost their sense of direction and did not return home until the following day, when the sun was out.
This suggests that pigeons use a combination of the sun's orientation and magnetic sensing to navigate—and the latter is a previously unsuspected mechanism for magnetic perception in animal
Iron-rich immune cells in the liver may act as sensors for magnetic fields, serving as an internal compass.
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