Meeting Abstract

P2.30  Tuesday, Jan. 5  Magnetic orientation in birds and sea turtles: a comparative approach STAPPUT, KATRIN*; LOHMANN, KENNETH.J.; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill stapput@email.unc.edu

Although diverse animals use the Earth’s magnetic field for long distance orientation and navigation, relatively little is known about how animals perceive magnetic fields or how magnetic information is used to guide migrations. Studies on birds and sea turtles have revealed the most detailed picture of how animals use magnetic parameters. In birds, extensive lab and field studies of migratory species, as well as homing pigeons, have allowed the development of standardized methods to record orientation behavior; they have also enabled researchers to test for underlying mechanisms and investigate possible magnetoreceptors. Similarly, extensive behavioral experiments with migratory sea turtles have revealed characteristics of the turtle magnetic compass and the way that migrating turtles exploit positional information in the Earth’s magnetic field. Taken together, these lines of research suggest many similarities in the magnetoreception systems of the two groups, but also suggest that magnetic information may be exploited in fundamentally different ways during the long-distance migrations that birds and sea turtles undertake. We are developing a laboratory assay of magnetoreception in turtles to facilitate further comparisons between the two taxa. A comparative approach to studying magnetoreception appears likely to provide insights into underlying commonalities, as well as the environmental and evolutionary pressures that may have shaped divergent magnetic navigational strategies.