Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/13775
Title: Ontogenetic development of magnetic compass orientation in domestic chickens ('Gallus gallus')
Contributor(s): Denzau, Susanne (author); Neissner, Christine (author); Rogers, Lesley  (author); Wiltschko, Wolfgang (author)
Publication Date: 2013
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.088815Open Access Link
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/13775
Abstract: Domestic chickens ('Gallus gallus') can be trained to search for a social stimulus in a specific magnetic direction, and cryptochrome 1a, found in the retina, has been proposed as a receptor molecule mediating magnetic directions. The present study combines immuno-histochemical and behavioural data to analyse the ontogenetic development of this ability. Newly hatched chicks already have a small amount of cryptochrome 1a in their violet cones; on day 5, the amount of cryptochrome 1a reached the same level as in adult chickens, suggesting that the physical basis for magnetoreception is present. In behavioural tests, however, young chicks 5 to 7 days old failed to show a preference of the training direction; on days 8, 9 and 12, they could be successfully trained to search along a specific magnetic axis. Trained and tested again 1 week later, the chicks that had not shown a directional preference on days 5 to 7 continued to search randomly, while the chicks tested from day 8 onward preferred the correct magnetic axis when tested 1 week later. The observation that the magnetic compass is not functional before day 8 suggests that certain maturation processes in the magnetosensitive system in the brain are not yet complete before that day. The reasons why chicks that have been trained before that day fail to learn the task later remain unclear.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: The Journal of Experimental Biology, 216(16), p. 3143-3147
Publisher: The Company of Biologists Ltd
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1477-9145
0022-0949
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 060801 Animal Behaviour
060809 Vertebrate Biology
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 310901 Animal behaviour
310914 Vertebrate biology
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280102 Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Science and Technology

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