

Though my farm-raised father insists differently, there's something a bit spooky about cows standing in a field. They're just a bit *too *placid; I've always suspected that those limpid eyes hide strange secrets.

And what do you know – I was right! German and Czech biologists have shown that cattle, along with deer, instinctively stand in a north-south direction. They appear to possess a sixth sense of magnetism.

After studying Google Earth satellite images of cattle herds, along with their own observations of roe deer, the researchers realized that the animals routinely stood along a north-south axis.

"The magnetic field is the only common and most likely factor responsible for the observed alignment," write the researchers in a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Our analysis ... clearly provides the crucial proof in favor of the Earth's magnetic field being the responsive cue."

They think the ability evolved to help guide the animals' ancestors during migrations (which could explain why the results are stronger in deer than cattle, which having been domesticated and restrained no longer migrate.)

What's the physiological mechanism? That's not yet known. "Our findings ... challenge neuroscientists and biophysics to explain the proximate mechanisms," the researchers write.

You hear that, neuroscientists and biophysics? You got served!

Magnetic alignment in grazing and resting cattle and deer [PNAS]

Image: Mad Paul

Note: For analysis of wind and sun as possible navigational factors, see this comment.





See Also:

WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook.