Overview
- UNC Chapel Hill researchers conditioned eight loggerhead hatchlings to associate food with magnetic signatures mimicking Turks and Caicos and waters off Haiti.
- After exposure to a strong magnetic pulse from an electromagnetic coil, the turtles displayed a marked drop in their conditioned “dance” response.
- The behavioral change indicates that magnetite-based magnetoreceptors likely underlie the turtles’ geographic map sense.
- Some response persisted after pulsing, pointing to additional cues that may supplement magnetic mapping during navigation.
- The peer-reviewed study was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology in 2025 (DOI: 10.1242/jeb.251243).