Loggerhead turtles are always on the move. Migrating thousands of miles during their lives, these sea turtles navigate according to the Earth's magnetic field, which they sense in two different ways. In fact, the “boobs” see the field and feel it too, actually having both a compass and a map for their travels. But for many years, scientists have tried to explain exactly how the latter sense functions.
Researchers finally found the answer by studying how these turtles follow a magnetic field. Journal of Experimental Biology. By testing these turtles' ability to sense a field after training them to signal it with an adorable dance, researchers discovered that the loggerhead turtles' “magnetic map sense” may be working thanks to the presence of magnetite particles in their bodies.
The research is as fascinating as it is scientifically significant. The findings represent an important step in understanding these turtles and how they find their way using the Earth's magnetic field, the researchers say.
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Migration of turtles and the Earth's magnetic field
Loggerhead turtle migrations are epic.spanning thousands of miles of open ocean. Although the journey is challenging, turtles are well equipped: they are born with a built-in navigation system based on the Earth's magnetic field.
Surprisingly, there are two separate sensations that allow these turtles to navigate using magnetism. see magnetic field thanks to light-sensitive molecules that are activated around it. In another turtle feel area, although the exact explanation of how this happened has long eluded scientists.
Eager to learn more, the team trained eight newly hatched loggerhead babies to signal through an adorable whirling dance when they sensed a magnetic field at a specific location around the Turks and Caicos Islands. (They also trained eight more hatchlings to do the same when they sensed the magnetic field around Haiti.) Then, after exposing the turtles to strong magnetic pulses, the researchers observed their behavior, waiting to see if they signaled the presence of the field with their spins.
If the turtles weren't dancing, the researchers say, it could indicate they were sensing a magnetic field through pieces of embedded magnetite that could have been disturbed by strong magnetic pulses. On the other hand, if the turtles actually danced, this might indicate that they sensed the magnetic field through some other mechanism. By testing the turtles, the team found that the hatchlings danced less after being exposed to the pulses, indicating that their magnetic map may be affected by the presence of these bits.
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Dancing magnetism
Of course, the secret of the discovery was the turtles' signals, caused by the hatchlings' love for food. “They are very interested in food and tend to dance when they think there is an opportunity to get enough,” said Alaina Mackiewicz, study author and graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to press release.
Indeed, newly hatched loggerhead turtles twist and turn in anticipation of food, twirling in an excited dance. Thus, by training turtles for two months to associate the sensation of a magnetic field with food, the researchers effectively encouraged them to communicate when they sensed its magnetism.
“It’s really fun, but it’s quite time-consuming,” Mackiewicz said.
According to the team, turtles use both of their magnetic senses to make sense of your surroundingsseeing and feeling the magnetic field. One works as a compass, informing about the direction of movement, the other works as a map, tracking their position. The results indicate that the latter is a particularly important component of turtle navigation, which is now better understood thanks to the turtles' whirling dance.
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