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Salmon Follow Magnetic Map
Salmon migrate over thousands of kilometers of open ocean, but somehow, unfailingly find their way home to their native streams. Dr. Nathan Putman, a post-doctoral scholar in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University, has found evidence that they do so using a magnetic "sixth sense." Dr. Putman analyzed the route Fraser River salmon took on their migration home to spawn, and found that variations in that route corresponded to long-term variations in the Earth's magnetic field, suggesting the fish were using a magnetic sense and an internal magnetic map to navigate.
Related Links
Paper in Current Biology
US National Science Foundation release
Wired Science
National Geographic story
Listen to this item (pop up player) or use this link to download an mp3.
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The Red Fox's Magnetic Attraction
We know the fox to be sly and cunning, but new research by Dr. Sabine Begall, the Associate Head of the Department of Zoology at the University of Duisberg-Essen in Germany, has found another remarkable trait. Foxes have the ability to find prey in either tall grass or under cover of snow, using the Earth's magnetic field. For this reason, the fox has a preference for facing magnetic north, within ten degrees, when hunting. The research showed a much higher success rate when the fox aligned itself in this way than in any other direction. The research suggests that the fox sees a shadow on its retina that is darkest toward magnetic north. Like a normal shadow, this 'image' appears to be a constant distance ahead of the fox. When the shadow lines up with where the fox perceives the sound of a mouse, for example, it launches itself into the air, coming straight down on its prey.
Related Links
Paper in Biology Letters
Dr. Sabine Begall
Blog on Not Exactly Rocket Science
BBC Video of Red Fox hunting
Another video of fox "mousing" in snow
Story from PhysOrg
Listen to this item (pop up player) or use this link to download an mp3.
Salmon migrate over thousands of kilometers of open ocean, but somehow, unfailingly find their way home to their native streams. Dr. Nathan Putman, a post-doctoral scholar in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University, has found evidence that they do so using a magnetic "sixth sense." Dr. Putman analyzed the route Fraser River salmon took on their migration home to spawn, and found that variations in that route corresponded to long-term variations in the Earth's magnetic field, suggesting the fish were using a magnetic sense and an internal magnetic map to navigate.
Related Links
Paper in Current Biology
US National Science Foundation release
Wired Science
National Geographic story
Listen to this item (pop up player) or use this link to download an mp3.
__________________________________________________ ___
The Red Fox's Magnetic Attraction
We know the fox to be sly and cunning, but new research by Dr. Sabine Begall, the Associate Head of the Department of Zoology at the University of Duisberg-Essen in Germany, has found another remarkable trait. Foxes have the ability to find prey in either tall grass or under cover of snow, using the Earth's magnetic field. For this reason, the fox has a preference for facing magnetic north, within ten degrees, when hunting. The research showed a much higher success rate when the fox aligned itself in this way than in any other direction. The research suggests that the fox sees a shadow on its retina that is darkest toward magnetic north. Like a normal shadow, this 'image' appears to be a constant distance ahead of the fox. When the shadow lines up with where the fox perceives the sound of a mouse, for example, it launches itself into the air, coming straight down on its prey.
Related Links
Paper in Biology Letters
Dr. Sabine Begall
Blog on Not Exactly Rocket Science
BBC Video of Red Fox hunting
Another video of fox "mousing" in snow
Story from PhysOrg
Listen to this item (pop up player) or use this link to download an mp3.