Development of lateralization of the magnetic compass in a migratory bird

  • The magnetic compass of a migratory bird, the European robin (Erithacus rubecula), was shown to be lateralized in favour of the right eye/left brain hemisphere. However, this seems to be a property of the avian magnetic compass that is not present from the beginning, but develops only as the birds grow older. During first migration in autumn, juvenile robins can orient by their magnetic compass with their right as well as with their left eye. In the following spring, however, the magnetic compass is already lateralized, but this lateralization is still flexible: it could be removed by covering the right eye for 6 h. During the following autumn migration, the lateralization becomes more strongly fixed, with a 6 h occlusion of the right eye no longer having an effect. This change from a bilateral to a lateralized magnetic compass appears to be a maturation process, the first such case known so far in birds. Because both eyes mediate identical information about the geomagnetic field, brain asymmetry for the magnetic compass could increase efficiency by setting the other hemisphere free for other processes.

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Metadaten
Author:Dennis Gehring, Wolfgang WiltschkoGND, Onur GüntürkünORCiDGND, Susanne DenzauGND, Roswitha WiltschkoORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-268142
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1654
ISSN:1471-2954
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22933375
Parent Title (English):Proceedings of the Royal Society of London / Series B, Biological sciences
Publisher:The Royal Society
Place of publication:London
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2012
Date of first Publication:2012/08/29
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2012/10/31
Tag:asymmetry; magnetic compass; maturation process; migratory orientation
Volume:279
Page Number:6
First Page:4230
Last Page:4235
Note:
Exis Open Choice. Authors participating in EXiS Open Choice will be able to disseminate their articles under the Creative Commons licence version 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) allowing them to post the final published version on repositories as soon as the article is published. Authors should also deposit the URL of their published article, in addition to the full text.
HeBIS-PPN:358367549
Institutes:Biowissenschaften / Biowissenschaften
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie)
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Sammlung Biologie / Sondersammelgebiets-Volltexte
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 3.0