ArticleCommunications biology2021
Corneal sensitivity is required for orientation in free-flying migratory bats.
Article in Communications biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multimodal imaging reveals no evidence for magnetite-based magnetoreceptors in the mole-rat eye.iScience · 2026Article
- Echolocating free-tailed bats use vision and hearing but not magnetoreception when navigating a maze.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Article
- To Migrate or not to Migrate? Exploring the Genomic Basis of Partial Migratory Behavior in Bats.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Bats flying through a Y-maze are visually attracted to wind turbine surfaces.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Autumn Migration of Greater Noctule Bat (Nyctalus Lasiopterus): through Countries and over Mountains to a New Migration Flight Record in Bats.Doklady biological sciences : proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Biological sciences sections · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The exact anatomical location for an iron particle-based magnetic sense remains enigmatic in vertebrates. For mammals, findings from a cornea anaesthesia experiment in mole rats suggest that it carries the primary sensors for magnetoreception. Yet, this has never been tested in a free-ranging mammal. Here, we investigated whether intact corneal sensation is crucial for navigation in migrating Nathusius' bats, Pipistrellus nathusii, translocated from their migratory corridor. We found that bats treated with corneal anaesthesia in both eyes flew in random directions after translocation and release, contrasting bats with a single eye treated, and the control group, which both oriented in the seasonally appropriate direction. Using a Y-maze test, we confirmed that light detection remained unaffected by topical anaesthesia. Therefore our results suggest the cornea as a possible site of magnetoreception in bats, although other conceivable effects of the anaesthetic are also explored. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the corneal based sense is of bilateral nature but can function in a single eye if necessary.
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Registered trials
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