Polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat
In a recent study, Greif et al. (Greif et al. Nat Commun 5, 4488. (doi:10.1038/ncomms5488)) demonstrated a functional role of polarized light for a bat species confronted with a homing task. These non-migratory bats appeared to calibrate their magnetic compass by using polarized skylight at dusk, ye...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4614429 2023-05-15T17:59:45+02:00 Polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat Lindecke, Oliver Voigt, Christian C. Pētersons, Gunārs Holland, Richard A. 2015-09 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614429/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26382077 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0525 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614429/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26382077 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0525 © 2015 The Author(s) http://royalsocietypublishing.org/licence Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Animal Behaviour Text 2015 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0525 2016-09-04T00:12:37Z In a recent study, Greif et al. (Greif et al. Nat Commun 5, 4488. (doi:10.1038/ncomms5488)) demonstrated a functional role of polarized light for a bat species confronted with a homing task. These non-migratory bats appeared to calibrate their magnetic compass by using polarized skylight at dusk, yet it is unknown if migratory bats also use these cues for calibration. During autumn migration, we equipped Nathusius' bats, Pipistrellus nathusii, with radio transmitters and tested if experimental animals exposed during dusk to a 90° rotated band of polarized light would head in a different direction compared with control animals. After release, bats of both groups continued their journey in the same direction. This observation argues against the use of a polarization-calibrated magnetic compass by this migratory bat and questions that the ability of using polarized light for navigation is a consistent feature in bats. This finding matches with observations in some passerine birds that used polarized light for calibration of their magnetic compass before but not during migration. Text Pipistrellus nathusii PubMed Central (PMC) Biology Letters 11 9 20150525 |
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PubMed Central (PMC) |
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English |
topic |
Animal Behaviour |
spellingShingle |
Animal Behaviour Lindecke, Oliver Voigt, Christian C. Pētersons, Gunārs Holland, Richard A. Polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat |
topic_facet |
Animal Behaviour |
description |
In a recent study, Greif et al. (Greif et al. Nat Commun 5, 4488. (doi:10.1038/ncomms5488)) demonstrated a functional role of polarized light for a bat species confronted with a homing task. These non-migratory bats appeared to calibrate their magnetic compass by using polarized skylight at dusk, yet it is unknown if migratory bats also use these cues for calibration. During autumn migration, we equipped Nathusius' bats, Pipistrellus nathusii, with radio transmitters and tested if experimental animals exposed during dusk to a 90° rotated band of polarized light would head in a different direction compared with control animals. After release, bats of both groups continued their journey in the same direction. This observation argues against the use of a polarization-calibrated magnetic compass by this migratory bat and questions that the ability of using polarized light for navigation is a consistent feature in bats. This finding matches with observations in some passerine birds that used polarized light for calibration of their magnetic compass before but not during migration. |
format |
Text |
author |
Lindecke, Oliver Voigt, Christian C. Pētersons, Gunārs Holland, Richard A. |
author_facet |
Lindecke, Oliver Voigt, Christian C. Pētersons, Gunārs Holland, Richard A. |
author_sort |
Lindecke, Oliver |
title |
Polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat |
title_short |
Polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat |
title_full |
Polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat |
title_fullStr |
Polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat |
title_full_unstemmed |
Polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat |
title_sort |
polarized skylight does not calibrate the compass system of a migratory bat |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614429/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26382077 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0525 |
genre |
Pipistrellus nathusii |
genre_facet |
Pipistrellus nathusii |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614429/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26382077 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0525 |
op_rights |
© 2015 The Author(s) http://royalsocietypublishing.org/licence Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0525 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
20150525 |
_version_ |
1766168628898562048 |