These 4 Animals Use Magnetic Fields

INDONEWTRAVEL.COM - You must have heard that birds use the earth's magnetic field to aid navigation. Well, it turns out that there are a number of animals that use magnetic fields as directions in their activities.

Quoted from the scienceabc page, here are 4 animals that use magnetic fields as navigation or directions in traveling.

1. Turtle

Female turtles use the earth's magnetic field to travel long distances. They rely entirely on magnetic markings along the coast to lay their eggs at their birthplace and ensure that future generations of turtles find their home.

2. Trout

Trout is a close relative of salmon. Nearly 1 in every 10,000 cells in the nasal lining of trout contains a very strong magnetic material. This magnetic cell is able to respond whenever it detects a change in the external magnetic field. This ability is used as navigation to move.

3. Fly

Fruit flies are nasty little flies that roam around food left in the open. It turns out that fruit flies have an extraordinary magnetic ability to detect the location of food places. In a recent study, it was shown that when a protein found in the human retina is placed into a fruit fly, it is also able to detect an external magnetic field.

4. Dove

The most commonly known creature that uses the Earth's magnetic field for navigational purposes is the pigeon. House pigeons have iron balls in the hair cells of the inner ear, which facilitate detection and navigation using the Earth's magnetic field. Therefore, if Earth loses its magnetic field (which is highly unlikely), then these birds will have a hard time finding where they need to go.