Cognitive maps and the magnetic sense in vertebrates.

Navigation requires a network of neurons processing inputs from internally generated cues and external landmarks. Most studies on the neuronal basis of navigation in vertebrates have focused on rats and mice and the canonical senses vision, hearing, olfaction, and somatosensation. Some animals have evolved the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field and use it for orientation.

A GPS assisted translocation experiment to study the homing behavior of red deer.

Many animals return to their home areas (i.e., 'homing') after translocation to sites further away.

Cryptochromes in mammals: a magnetoreception misconception?

Cryptochromes are flavoproteins related to photolyases that are widespread throughout the plant and animal kingdom. They govern blue light-dependent growth in plants, control circadian rhythms in a light-dependent manner in invertebrates, and play a central part in the circadian clock in vertebrates. In addition, cryptochromes might function as receptors that allow animals to sense the Earth's magnetic field.

Evaluating the power of a recent method for comparing two circular distributions: an alternative to the Watson U test.

Some data are collected on circular (rather than linear) scales. Often researchers are interested in comparing two samples of such circular data to test the hypothesis that they came from the same underlying population. Recently, we compared 18 statistical approaches to testing such a hypothesis, and recommended two as particularly effective.

C. elegans is not a robust model organism for the magnetic sense.

Magnetoreception is defined as the ability to sense and use the Earth's magnetic field, for example to orient and direct movements. The receptors and sensory mechanisms underlying behavioral responses to magnetic fields remain unclear. A previous study described magnetoreception in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which requires the activity of a single pair of sensory neurons.