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Magnetic alignment in grazing and resting cattle and deer
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SYSNO ASEP 0310893 Document Type J - Journal Article R&D Document Type Journal Article Subsidiary J Článek ve WOS Title Magnetic alignment in grazing and resting cattle and deer Title Magnetická orientace skotu a jelenovitých při pastvě a odpočinku Author(s) Begall, S. (DE)
Červený, Jaroslav (UBO-W) RID
Neef, J. (DE)
Burda, H. (DE)
Vojtěch, O. (CZ)Number of authors 5 Source Title Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : National Academy of Sciences - ISSN 0027-8424
Roč. 105, č. 36 (2008), s. 13451-13455Number of pages 5 s. Language eng - English Country US - United States Keywords grazing behavior ; magnetic alignment ; magnetoreception ; resting behavior ; spatial orientation Subject RIV EH - Ecology, Behaviour CEZ AV0Z60930519 - UBO-W (2005-2011) UT WOS 000259251700050 DOI https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0803650105 Annotation We demonstrate by means of simple, noninvasive methods (analysis of satellite images, field observations, and measuring "deer beds" in snow) that domestic cattle across the globe, and grazing and resting red and roe deer, align their body axes in roughly a north–south direction. Direct observations of roe deer revealed that animals orient their heads northward when grazing or resting. Amazingly, this ubiquitous phenomenon does not seem to have been noticed by herdsmen, ranchers, or hunters. Because wind and light conditions could be excluded as a common denominator determining the body axis orientation, magnetic alignment is the most parsimonious explanation. To test the hypothesis that cattle orient their body axes along the field lines of the Earth’s magnetic field, we analyzed the body orientation of cattle from localities with high magnetic declination. Here, magnetic north was a better predictor than geographic north. Workplace Institute of Vertebrate Biology Contact Hana Slabáková, slabakova@ivb.cz, Tel.: 543 422 524 Year of Publishing 2009
Number of the records: 1