Our Editor Antonio Nafarrate has sent us this:
Hello all and happy 2015. Please check enclosed forwarded video that is definite proof that birds have in their brains a Schuler tuned gyroscopically stabilized inertial platform.
Best wishes from Antonio Nafarrate.
I hold the view that animals, the ancient peoples and the aborigines navigate perfectly well without compasses. This we often call a sense of direction. People with a sense of direction very seldom get lost even on dark nights even in unfamiliar territory. Not everyone has a sense of direction but those who do rely…
In previous years, Chris has been one of the first tagged Cuckoos to cross the Sahara desert but this year he seems to be on a much more relaxed schedule. His previous arrival dates south, of the Sahara desert, were mid July but right now he’s not even in Africa – he’s still in Italy!…
The Cuckoo is one of the migrants we know least about once it leaves the UK, however the BTO track, on their amazing site, the movements of five Cuckoos from breeding grounds in East Anglia to their winter quarters in Africa. http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking Cuckoo tracking what we’ve learnt so far: http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking/what-have-we-learnt Latest Cuckoo tracking news: http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking/european-cuckoo-study…
While advances in biologging have revealed many spectacular animal migrations, it remains poorly understood how young animals learn to migrate. Even in social species, it is unclear how migratory skills are transmitted from one generation to another and what implications this may have. Here we show that in Caspian terns Hydroprogne caspia family groups, genetic and foster…
Intro to the paper >>>> This paper is important as it begins to investigate a genetic basis to animal navigation and focuses on finding markers to get a grip on understanding the underlying genetic architecture of migration Cross-breeding experiments were carried out in the 80/90s by Peter Berthold and his team at the Max Planck Centre in Seewiesen….
Dr Kate Jeffery is one of our heroes and has a lab at University College London where she experiments with what the brain is doing when rats navigate around a maze. In her experimental rig, she can see neurons fire up as the rat faces in different directions (head direction cells) while it is exploring….