Magnetic alignment enhances homing efficiency of hunting dogs

Despite anecdotal reports of the astonishing homing abilities in dogs, their homing strategies are not fully understood. We equipped 27 hunting dogs with GPS collars and action cams, let them freely roam in forested areas, and analyzed components of homing in over 600 trials. When returning to the owner (homewards), dogs either followed their outbound track (‘tracking’) or used a novel route (‘scouting’). The inbound track during scouting started mostly with a short (about 20 m) run along the north-south geomagnetic axis, irrespective of the actual direction homewards. Performing such a ‘compass run’ significantly increased homing efficiency. We propose that this run is instrumental for bringing the mental map into register with the magnetic compass and to establish the heading of the animal.

[1]  Richard S. Ostfeld,et al.  Long-distance homing in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus , 1996 .

[2]  J. Taube,et al.  Our sense of direction: progress, controversies and challenges , 2017, Nature Neuroscience.

[3]  Michael Nahm.  MYSTERIOUS WAYS : THE RIDDLE OF THE HOMING ABILITY IN DOGS AND OTHER VERTEBRATES , 2015 .

[4]  Nachum Ulanovsky,et al.  Large-scale navigational map in a mammal , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[5]  Polarisation vision , 2011, Current Biology.

[6]  Ariane S Etienne,et al.  A subterranean mammal uses the magnetic compass for path integration. , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[7]  Dr. Roswitha Wiltschko,et al.  Magnetic Orientation in Animals , 1995, Zoophysiology.

[8]  Phil Gibbs,et al.  Tips and Strategies for Mixed Modeling with SAS/STAT ® Procedures , 2012 .

[9]  T. Hartley,et al.  The Neurobiology of Mammalian Navigation , 2018, Current Biology.

[10]  E. P. Malkemper,et al.  Shifted magnetic alignment in vertebrates: Evidence for neural lateralization? , 2016, Journal of theoretical biology.

[11]  Yossi Yovel,et al.  A functional role of the sky’s polarization pattern for orientation in the greater mouse-eared bat , 2014, Nature Communications.

[12]  B. Heller.  Circular Statistics in Biology, Edward Batschelet. Academic Press, London & New York (1981), 371, Price $69.50 , 1983 .

[13]  Dr. habil. Gábor Horváth,et al.  Polarized Light in Animal Vision , 2004, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

[14]  J. Svoboda,et al.  Directional preference in dogs: Laterality and "pull of the north" , 2017, PloS one.

[15]  V. Hart,et al.  Magnetoreception in the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus): influence of weak frequency-modulated radio frequency fields , 2015, Scientific Reports.

[16]  Gary G. Koch,et al.  Categorical data analysis using the SAS , 2012 .

[17]  J. Phillips,et al.  Evidence for plasticity in magnetic nest-building orientation in laboratory mice , 2018, Animal Behaviour.

[18]  Thomas Wolbers,et al.  Challenges for identifying the neural mechanisms that support spatial navigation: the impact of spatial scale , 2014, Front. Hum. Neurosci..

[19]  Ivo Käthner,et al.  An auditory multiclass brain-computer interface with natural stimuli: Usability evaluation with healthy participants and a motor impaired end user , 2015, Front. Hum. Neurosci..

[20]  S. Begall,et al.  Dogs can be trained to find a bar magnet , 2018, PeerJ.

[21]  R. Wiltschko,et al.  Magnetic compass orientation in the subterranean rodentCryptomys hottentotus (Bathyergidae) , 1990, Experientia.

[22]  P. Nováková,et al.  Dogs are sensitive to small variations of the Earth’s magnetic field , 2013, Frontiers in Zoology.

[23]  K. Schmidt-Koenig,et al.  Animal Migration, Navigation, and Homing , 1978 .

[24]  H. Mouritsen.  Long-distance navigation and magnetoreception in migratory animals , 2018, Nature.

[25]  K. Lohmann.  Animal migration research takes wing , 2018, Current Biology.

[26]  J. Červený,et al.  Magnetic alignment in mammals and other animals , 2013 .

[27]  J. Phillips,et al.  Behavioral titration of a magnetic map coordinate , 2002, Journal of Comparative Physiology A.

[28]  R. Muheim,et al.  Magnetic compass orientation in C57BL/6J mice , 2006, Learning & behavior.