National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Animals Use "Chemical Compasses," Study Says


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

A whooping crane practices flying before starting its migration in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas in a file photo.

A theory that migratory animals have a "chemical compass" in their eyes that allows them to "see" Earth's magnetic field has been shown to work in the laboratory, a new study says.

Photograph by Bates Littlehales/NGS