Magnetic orientation hypotheses assessed for migratory bats under laboratory conditions and in free flight (Nav06*)

• Subject Area: Sensory and Behavioural Biology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 395940726

To achieve a comprehensive understanding of magnetoreception and vertebrate navigation, it is essential to understand whether the mechanisms and principles of magnetoreception are similar across taxa. In this project, we will focus on migratory bats. By measuring orientation decisions following magnetic treatments in either a field laboratory or under free-flight conditions in radio-tagged bats by utilising a network of digital telemetry stations, we are now able to test the two prevailing hypotheses, the radical-pair-based and the magnetic-particle-based magnetoreception mechanism, in a mammalian model.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1372: Magnetoreception and navigation in vertebrates: from biophysics to brain and behaviour
• Applicant Institution: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
• Project Head: Dr. Oliver Lindecke