Shedding Light on Vertebrate Magnetoreception

Bird Navigation: A Clear View of Magnetoreception

Experiments with robins wearing frosted goggles have revealed a tantalising relationship between object vision and magnetoreception, shedding further light on the close interconnection between the two senses in migratory birds.

MinireviewShedding Light on Vertebrate Magnetoreception

A Light-Independent Magnetic Compass in the Leatherback Sea Turtle.

Diverse animals can orient to the earth's magnetic field (1-6), but the mechanism or mechanisms undrlying magnetic field detection have not been determined. Behavioral (7-9) amd neurophysiological (10-12) results suggest that the transduction process underlying magnetic compass orientation in vertebrates is light-dependent, a finding consistent with theoretical models proposing that magnetorece...

Light-dependent magnetic compass orientation in amphibians and insects: candidate receptors and candidate molecular mechanisms.

Magnetic compass orientation by amphibians, and some insects, is mediated by a light-dependent magnetoreception mechanism. Cryptochrome photopigments, best known for their role in circadian rhythms, are proposed to mediate such responses. In this paper, we explore light-dependent properties of magnetic sensing at three levels: (i) behavioural (wavelength-dependent effects of light on magnetic c...

The case for light-dependent magnetic orientation in animals

Light-dependent models of magnetoreception have been proposed which involve an interaction between the magnetic field and either magnetite particles located within a photoreceptor or excited states of photopigment molecules. Consistent with a photoreceptor-based magnetic compass mechanism, magnetic orientation responses in salamanders, flies and birds have been shown to be affected by the wavel...