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Hagstrum JT. Avian navigation: the geomagnetic field provides compass cues but not a bicoordinate "map" plus a brief discussion of the alternative infrasound direction-finding hypothesis. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2024; 210:295-313. [PMID: 37071206 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01627-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
The geomagnetic field (GMF) is a worldwide source of compass cues used by animals and humans alike. The inclination of GMF flux lines also provides information on geomagnetic latitude. A long-disputed question, however, is whether horizontal gradients in GMF intensity, in combination with changes in inclination, provide bicoordinate "map" information. Multiple sources contribute to the total GMF, the largest of which is the core field. The ubiquitous crustal field is much less intense, but in both land and marine settings is strong enough at low altitudes (< 700 m; sea level) to mask the core field's weak N-S intensity gradient (~ 3-5 nT/km) over 10 s to 100 s of km. Non-orthogonal geomagnetic gradients, the lack of consistent E-W gradients, and the local masking of core-field intensity gradients by the crustal field, therefore, are grounds for rejection of the bicoordinate geomagnetic "map" hypothesis. In addition, the alternative infrasound direction-finding hypothesis is briefly reviewed. The GMF's diurnal variation has long been suggested as a possible Zeitgeber (timekeeper) for circadian rhythms and could explain the GMF's non-compass role in the avian navigational system. Requirements for detection of this weaker diurnal signal (~ 20-50 nT) might explain the magnetic alignment of resting and grazing animals.
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Romanova N, Utvenko G, Prokshina A, Cellarius F, Fedorishcheva A, Pakhomov A. Migratory birds are able to choose the appropriate migratory direction under dim yellow narrowband light. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20232499. [PMID: 38113940 PMCID: PMC10730290 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Currently, it is generally assumed that migratory birds are oriented in the appropriate migratory direction under UV, blue and green light (short-wavelength) and are unable to use their magnetic compass in total darkness and under yellow and red light (long-wavelength). However, it has also been suggested that the magnetic compass has two sensitivity peaks: in the short and long wavelengths, but with different intensities. In this project, we aimed to study the orientation of long-distance migrants, pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca), under different narrowband light conditions during autumn and spring migrations. The birds were tested in the natural magnetic field (NMF) and a changed magnetic field (CMF) rotated counterclockwise by 120° under dim green (autumn) and yellow (spring and autumn) light, which are on the 'threshold' between the short-wavelength and long-wavelength light. We showed that pied flycatchers (i) were completely disoriented under green light both in the NMF and CMF but (ii) showed the migratory direction in the NMF and the appropriate response to CMF under yellow light. Our data contradict the results of previous experiments under narrowband green and yellow light and raise doubts about the existence of only short-wavelength magnetoreception. The parameters of natural light change dramatically in spectral composition and intensity after local sunset, and the avian magnetic compass should be adapted to function properly under such constantly changing light conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadezhda Romanova
- Moscow State Pedagogical University, 1/1 M. Pirogovskaya St., Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - Gleb Utvenko
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, St. Petersburg State University, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Biological Station Rybachy, Zoological Institute RAS, Kaliningrad Region, Rybachy 238535, Russia
| | - Anisia Prokshina
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - Fyodor Cellarius
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Alexander Pakhomov
- Biological Station Rybachy, Zoological Institute RAS, Kaliningrad Region, Rybachy 238535, Russia
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Prussian blue technique is prone to yield false negative results in magnetoreception research. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8803. [PMID: 35614116 PMCID: PMC9132912 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12398-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Perls’s Prussian blue staining technique has been used in magnetoreception research to screen tissues for iron-rich structures as proxies for putative magnetoreceptor structures based on magnetic particles. However, seemingly promising structural candidates in the upper beak of birds detected with Prussian blue turned out to be either irreproducible or located in non-neuronal cells, which has spurred a controversy that has not been settled yet. Here we identify possible pitfalls in the previous works and apply the Prussian blue technique to tissues implicated in magnetic-particle-based magnetoreception, in an effort to reassess its suitability for staining single-domain magnetite, i.e., the proposed magnetic substrate for the interaction with the external magnetic field. In the upper beak of night-migratory songbirds, we found staining products in great numbers, but not remotely associated with fiber terminals of the traced ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve. Surprisingly, staining products were absent from the lamina propria in the olfactory rosette of rainbow trout where candidate magnetoreceptor structures were identified with different techniques earlier. Critically, magnetosome chains in whole cells of magnetotactic bacteria remained unstained. The failure to label single-domain magnetite in positive control samples is a serious limitation of the technique and suggests that two most influential but antipodal studies conducted previously stood little chances of obtaining correct positive results under the assumption that magnetosome-like particles were present in the tissues. Nonetheless, the staining technique appears suitable to identify tissue contamination with iron-rich fine dust trapped in epithelia already in vivo.
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Haase K, Musielak I, Warmuth-Moles L, Leberecht B, Zolotareva A, Mouritsen H, Heyers D. In Search for the Avian Trigeminal Magnetic Sensor: Distribution of Peripheral and Central Terminals of Ophthalmic Sensory Neurons in the Night-Migratory Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla). Front Neuroanat 2022; 16:853401. [PMID: 35321391 PMCID: PMC8936129 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2022.853401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In night-migratory songbirds, neurobiological and behavioral evidence suggest the existence of a magnetic sense associated with the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve (V1), possibly providing magnetic positional information. Curiously, neither the unequivocal existence, structural nature, nor the exact location of any sensory structure has been revealed to date. Here, we used neuronal tract tracing to map both the innervation fields in the upper beak and the detailed trigeminal brainstem terminations of the medial and lateral V1 subbranches in the night-migratory Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla). The medial V1 subbranch takes its course along the ventral part of the upper beak to innervate subepidermal layers and the mucosa of the nasal cavity, whereas the lateral V1 subbranch runs along dorsolateral levels until the nostrils to innervate mainly the skin of the upper beak. In the trigeminal brainstem, medial V1 terminals innervate both the dorsal part and the ventral, magnetically activated part of the principal sensory trigeminal brainstem nuclei (PrV). In contrast, the lateral V1 subbranch innervates only a small part of the ventral PrV. The spinal sensory trigeminal brainstem nuclei (SpV) receive topographically ordered projections. The medial V1 subbranch mainly innervates rostral and medial parts of SpV, whereas the lateral V1 subbranch mainly innervates the lateral and caudal parts of SpV. The present findings could provide valuable information for further analysis of the trigeminal magnetic sense of birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin Haase
- AG Neurosensorik, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Isabelle Musielak
- AG Neurosensorik, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Leonie Warmuth-Moles
- AG Neurosensorik, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Bo Leberecht
- AG Neurosensorik, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Anna Zolotareva
- Biological Station Rybachy, Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia
| | - Henrik Mouritsen
- AG Neurosensorik, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Dominik Heyers
- AG Neurosensorik, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Dominik Heyers,
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Lindecke O, Holland RA, Pētersons G, Voigt CC. Corneal sensitivity is required for orientation in free-flying migratory bats. Commun Biol 2021; 4:522. [PMID: 33953327 PMCID: PMC8100159 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02053-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The exact anatomical location for an iron particle-based magnetic sense remains enigmatic in vertebrates. For mammals, findings from a cornea anaesthesia experiment in mole rats suggest that it carries the primary sensors for magnetoreception. Yet, this has never been tested in a free-ranging mammal. Here, we investigated whether intact corneal sensation is crucial for navigation in migrating Nathusius' bats, Pipistrellus nathusii, translocated from their migratory corridor. We found that bats treated with corneal anaesthesia in both eyes flew in random directions after translocation and release, contrasting bats with a single eye treated, and the control group, which both oriented in the seasonally appropriate direction. Using a Y-maze test, we confirmed that light detection remained unaffected by topical anaesthesia. Therefore our results suggest the cornea as a possible site of magnetoreception in bats, although other conceivable effects of the anaesthetic are also explored. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the corneal based sense is of bilateral nature but can function in a single eye if necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Lindecke
- grid.418779.40000 0001 0708 0355Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany ,grid.14095.390000 0000 9116 4836AG Verhaltensbiologie, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Richard A. Holland
- grid.7362.00000000118820937School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd UK
| | - Gunārs Pētersons
- grid.22657.340000 0001 2169 9162Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava, Latvia
| | - Christian C. Voigt
- grid.418779.40000 0001 0708 0355Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany ,grid.14095.390000 0000 9116 4836AG Verhaltensbiologie, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Bolte P, Einwich A, Seth PK, Chetverikova R, Heyers D, Wojahn I, Janssen-Bienhold U, Feederle R, Hore P, Dedek K, Mouritsen H. Cryptochrome 1a localisation in light- and dark-adapted retinae of several migratory and non-migratory bird species: no signs of light-dependent activation. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2020.1870571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Petra Bolte
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Angelika Einwich
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Pranav K. Seth
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Raisa Chetverikova
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Dominik Heyers
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Irina Wojahn
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Ulrike Janssen-Bienhold
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
- Department of Neuroscience, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Regina Feederle
- Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Monoclonal Antibody Core Facility, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Peter Hore
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom
| | - Karin Dedek
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Henrik Mouritsen
- Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
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Caspar KR, Moldenhauer K, Moritz RE, Němec P, Malkemper EP, Begall S. Eyes are essential for magnetoreception in a mammal. J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20200513. [PMID: 32993431 PMCID: PMC7536053 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Several groups of mammals use the Earth's magnetic field for orientation, but their magnetosensory organ remains unknown. The Ansell's mole-rat (Fukomys anselli, Bathyergidae, Rodentia) is a microphthalmic subterranean rodent with innate magnetic orientation behaviour. Previous studies on this species proposed that its magnetoreceptors are located in the eye. To test this hypothesis, we assessed magnetic orientation in mole-rats after the surgical removal of their eyes compared to untreated controls. Initially, we demonstrate that this enucleation does not lead to changes in routine behaviours, including locomotion, feeding and socializing. We then studied magnetic compass orientation by employing a well-established nest-building assay under four magnetic field alignments. In line with previous studies, control animals exhibited a significant preference to build nests in magnetic southeast. By contrast, enucleated mole-rats built nests in random magnetic orientations, suggesting an impairment of their magnetic sense. The results provide robust support for the hypothesis that mole-rats perceive magnetic fields with their minute eyes, probably relying on magnetite-based receptors in the cornea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai R. Caspar
- Department of General Zoology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitaetsstr. 5, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Katrin Moldenhauer
- Department of General Zoology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitaetsstr. 5, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Regina E. Moritz
- Department of General Zoology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitaetsstr. 5, 45117 Essen, Germany
- Department Vision, Visual Impairment & Blindness, Faculty 13, Technical University of Dortmund, Emil-Figge-Straße 50, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
| | - Pavel Němec
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 12844 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - E. Pascal Malkemper
- Max Planck Research Group Neurobiology of Magnetoreception, Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (CAESAR), Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, 53175 Bonn, Germany
| | - Sabine Begall
- Department of General Zoology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitaetsstr. 5, 45117 Essen, Germany
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, 16521 Prague 6, Czech Republic
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Abstract
Birds can use two kinds of information from the geomagnetic field for navigation: the direction of the field lines as a compass and probably magnetic intensity as a component of the navigational ‘map’. The direction of the magnetic field appears to be sensed via radical pair processes in the eyes, with the crucial radical pairs formed by cryptochrome. It is transmitted by the optic nerve to the brain, where parts of the visual system seem to process the respective information. Magnetic intensity appears to be perceived by magnetite-based receptors in the beak region; the information is transmitted by the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve to the trigeminal ganglion and the trigeminal brainstem nuclei. Yet in spite of considerable progress in recent years, many details are still unclear, among them details of the radical pair processes and their transformation into a nervous signal, the precise location of the magnetite-based receptors and the centres in the brain where magnetic information is combined with other navigational information for the navigational processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roswitha Wiltschko
- FB Biowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Wiltschko
- FB Biowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Bingman VP. Requiem for a heavyweight – can anything more be learned from homing pigeons about the sensory and spatial-representational basis of avian navigation? J Exp Biol 2018; 221:221/20/jeb163089. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.163089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The homing pigeon (Columba livia) has long served as a study species to exhaustively investigate the sensory and spatial (map)-representational mechanisms that guide avian navigation. However, several factors have contributed to recent questioning of whether homing pigeons are as valuable as they once were as a general model for the study of the sensory and map-like, spatial-representational mechanisms of avian navigation. These reservations include: the success of this research program in unveiling navigational mechanisms; the burgeoning of new tracking technologies making navigational experiments on long-distance migratory and other wild birds much more accessible; the almost complete loss of the historically dominant, large-scale pigeon loft/research facilities; and prohibitive university per diem costs as well as animal care and use restrictions. Nevertheless, I propose here that there remain good prospects for homing pigeon research that could still profoundly influence how one understands aspects of avian navigation beyond sensory mechanisms and spatial-representational strategies. Indeed, research into neural mechanisms and brain organization, social/personality influences and genetics of navigation all offer opportunities to take advantage of the rich spatial behavior repertoire and experimental convenience of homing pigeons. Importantly, research in these areas would not necessarily require the large number of birds typically used in the past to study the sensory guidance of navigation. For those of us who have had the opportunity to work with this remarkable animal, one research door may be closing, but a window into exciting future opportunities lies ajar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verner P. Bingman
- Department of Psychology and J. P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA
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