A new model for magnetoreception

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel model suggesting that migratory birds perceive Earth's magnetic field by visually sensing light polarization, linking radical pair chemistry to biological magnetoreception.

Contribution

It introduces a simple, biologically plausible model connecting radical pair hypothesis with visual perception of magnetic fields in birds.

Findings

Explains recent experimental data on radical pair lifetimes

Proposes an evolutionary pathway for magnetic sensing in species

Links magnetoreception to visual phenomena like Haidinger's brush

Abstract

Certain migratory birds can sense the earth's magnetic field. The nature of this process is not yet properly understood. Here we offer a simple explanation according to which birds literally `see' the local magnetic field: Our model relates the well-established radical pair hypothesis to the phenomenon of Haidinger's brush, a capacity to see the polarisation of light. This new picture explains recent surprising experimental data indicating long lifetimes for the radical pair. Moreover there is a clear evolutionary path toward this field sensing mechanism: it is an enhancement of a weak effect that may be present in many species.