Detection, Extraction, and Characterization of Biogenic Magnetite

Several difficulties arise when attempts are made to characterize the deposits of magnetite found in metazoans. We are usually forced to deal with very small amounts of material, dispersed in tissues, using indirect methods that are subject to contamination. Magnetite crystals in the abdomens of bees (Gould et al., 1978), and in the heads of pigeons (Walcott et al., 1979), and other vertebrates (Bauer et al., this volume; Perry et al., this volume; Walker et al., this volume) are submicroscopic (<100 nm), occupy a combined volume of 10−10 to 10−8 cm3, and have a mass of 1–100 ng. In organisms of up to 100 kg or more, detecting such quantities of magnetite from its magnetic properties depends on the crystals being highly concentrated in small, recognizable structures, and not uniformly dispersed throughout all the tissues. Extraction and recovery of the crystals likewise depend on their being sufficiently concentrated to be magnetically detectable.

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