Not even Superman himself has the visual ability that scientists have just attributed to migratory birds. According to a study published today in the journal PLoS ONE, these animals are capable of literally seeing the Earth's magnetic field and using it to orient themselves in their flights from one end of the planet to another.
The secret lies in the cryptochromes , photoreceptors that, according to a Franco-German research carried out in 2006, are sensitive to blue light and participate in processes linked to the circadian rhythm – day and night. Now, the new study published in PLoS ONE places these cytochromes in the retina and in a group of neurons in the anterior part of the brain ( Cluster N ). Both regions, the researchers say, are connected through the thalamus, forming a sophisticated brain circuit that visualizes and processes magnetic compass information in these birds.
