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How evolution has optimized the magnetic sensor in birds

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2024-04-30 01:30:03

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Migratory birds are able to navigate and orientate with astonishing accuracy using various mechanisms, including a magnetic compass. A team led by biologists Dr. Corinna Langebrake and Prof. Dr. Miriam Liedvogel from the University of Oldenburg and the Institute of Avian Research "Vogelwarte Helgoland" in Wilhelmshaven has now compared the genomes of several hundred bird species and found further evidence that a specific protein in the birds' eyes is the magnetoreceptor which underlies this process.

The researchers found that there have been significant evolutionary changes in the gene that encodes the protein cryptochrome 4 and that certain groups of birds have lost it entirely.