Two magnetoreception pathways in a migratory salamander.
Male eastern red-spotted newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) under controlled laboratory conditions exhibit unimodal magnetic compass orientation either in a trained compass direction or in the direction of their home pond. If the vertical component of the magnetic field is inverted, newts exhibiting the simple-compass response undergo a 180 degree reversal in orientation, whereas newts orienting in the home direction are unaffected by this treatment. These results indicate that newts use an axial compass mechanism for simple-compass orientation similar to that found in migrating birds. However, a distinct magnetoreception pathway with polar response properties is involved in homing and is possibly linked in some way to the navigational map.
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D008124:Locomotion; D008280:Magnetics; D008297:Male; D012455:Salamandridae / Q000502:physiology*; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*