4 ms·
I was under the assumption that the working theory is birds share a similar feature as fruit flies and possibly foxes. The cones that allow us to see blue light
by kakarot 10y ago
I was under the assumption that the working theory is birds share a similar feature as fruit flies and possibly foxes. The cones that allow us to see blue light actually work as compasses when suspended in a fluid, and they are not attached to the retina of a fruit fly but are suspended in their eye and thus shape incoming visual patterns around magnetic fields
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoreception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoreception
- Aelinsaar 10y agoThat's fascinating, but birds do have their rods and cones attached to the retina. IIRC birds are though to be in some way detecting either directly, or through secondary effect, polarization of light.
- danbruc 10y agoThat is essentially the proposed mechanism discussed in the article but the article gives the impression - at least to me - that it is not yet confirmed that this indeed how it works in birds. EDIT: After skimming the Wikipedia article, both articles agree that it is a possible but not yet confirmed mechanism.
- dnautics 10y agoThe cryptochrome hypothesis doesn't require detachment from the retina as it's a protein that has directional excitatory preference, not the whole cell.
- kakarot 10y agoInteresting. Thanks for the clarification. I find this topic to be of extreme interest