Animal Navigation

A detailed Summary of Animal Navigation

Animal navigation and sense of direction without maps or any assistance has been a mystery, in terms of migration and travel by birds, fishes and insects. Their ability to use different cues to enable themselves to navigate to their destination is amazing. These animals utilize various methods to guide themselves through unfamiliar terrain to get a different area. Some animals use the sun and stars to guide their way to warmer climates. Others may use their sense of smell, or light to direct them. While it has been proposed that some animals are genetically predisposed of having the ability to migrate, it may be debunked or renewed by the theory that animals are guided by a magnetic field.

In the article it explains that the core of the earth has a magnetic strip which depending on its

intensity can guide animals in different directions. However a question was posed about the ability to detect such a small electric field. Since this magnet is in the core of the earth the intensity on the surface is so weak that how could an animal possible be able to use this source or cue. Well after endless experiments it is concluded that some animals that use this technique can detect electric fields as weak as five-billionths of a volt per centimeter.

Applying this new idea to the migration of sea turtles. This experiment concluded that the turtles used the magnetic field as navigational markers. These markers "guide them through the ocean, allowing the turtles to avoid fatally cold currents and stay on a path leading towards home." Because of the intensity of the magnetic f

Some common words found in the essay are:
, sea turtles, magnetic field, core earth, ability magnetic fields, animals sense, sense direction, detect electric, question posed, ability magnetic, magnetic fields,

Approximate Word count = 537
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science

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Animal Navigation

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