Migrating bats use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate in the dark


Soprano pipistrelles migrate lengthy distances

Wildchromes/Alamy

Migratory bats use a magnetic sense to navigate lengthy distances,  calibrating their inner compass primarily based on the place of the setting solar every night.

Many animals might use Earth’s magnetic area both to orient themselves or to navigate, together with turtles, birds and probably even people. Till now, there was no direct proof that migratory mammals additionally use this sense, known as magnetoreception.

Migratory bats journey lots of and even 1000’s of kilometres every year. As nocturnal voyagers, they’ll’t depend on visible cues, equivalent to …