NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Monarch Butterfly Navigation
From: Bob Goethe
Date: 2016 Apr 19, 10:29 -0700
From: Bob Goethe
Date: 2016 Apr 19, 10:29 -0700
Turns out that being able to measure time accurately is important not just in human-navigation.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36046746
Scientists have ...solve(d) the mystery of one of nature's most famous journeys - the great migration of monarch butterflies from Canada to Mexico.
...two control mechanisms - one based on the timekeeping "clock" neurons in the butterflies' antennae and the other from what are called azimuth neurons in their eyes. These monitor the position of the Sun.
"The circuit gets those two signals then matches them, according to how it's wired, to control signals that tell the system if a correction is needed to stay on the correct course," explained Prof Shlizerman.
