Editing Magnetoreception (section)

==== In reptiles ====

[[File:Leatherback Turtle eggs hatching at Eagle Beach, Aruba (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Magnetoreception plays a part in guiding [[Loggerhead sea turtle|loggerhead]] hatchlings to the sea<ref name="Lohmann et al 2022"/>]]

The majority of study on magnetoreception in reptiles involves turtles. Early support for magnetoreception in turtles was provided in a 1991 study on hatchling [[Loggerhead sea turtle|loggerhead]] turtles which demonstrated that loggerheads can use the magnetic field as a compass to determine direction.<ref name="Lohmann 1991">{{cite journal |last=Lohmann |first= K.J. |date=1991 |title=Magnetic orientation by hatchling loggerhead sea turtles (''Caretta caretta'')|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=155 |issue= 1 |pages=37–49|doi= 10.1242/jeb.155.1.37 |pmid= 2016575 |doi-access=free |bibcode= 1991JExpB.155...37L }}</ref> Subsequent studies have demonstrated that loggerhead and green turtles can also use the magnetic field of the earth as a map, because different parameters of the Earth's magnetic field vary with geographic location. The map in sea turtles was the first ever described though similar abilities have now been reported in lobsters, fish, and birds.<ref name="Lohmann et al 2022">{{cite journal |last1=Lohmann |first1= Kenneth J. |last2=Goforth |first2=Kayla M.|last3=Mackiewicz | first3=Alayna G. |last4=Lim |first4=Dana S.|last5=Lohmann |first5 =Catherine M.F. |date=2022 |title=Magnetic maps in animal navigation |journal=Journal of Comparative Physiology A |volume=208 |issue=1 |pages=41–67 |doi=10.1007/s00359-021-01529-8 |doi-access=free |pmid=34999936 |pmc=8918461 }}</ref>  Magnetoreception by land turtles was shown in a 2010 experiment on ''Terrapene carolina'', a [[box turtle]]. After teaching a group of these box turtles to swim to either the east or west end of an experimental tank, a strong magnet disrupted the learned routes.<ref name="Mathis Moore 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Mathis |first1=Alicia |last2=Moore |first2=Frank R. |date=26 April 2010 |title=Geomagnetism and the Homeward Orientation of the Box Turtle, ''Terrapene Carolina'' |journal=[[Ethology (journal)|Ethology]] |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=265–274 |doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.1988.tb00238.x}}</ref><ref name="Stehli 1996">{{cite book |title=Magnetite Biomineralization and Magnetoreception in Organisms: A new biomagnetism |last=Stehli |first= F. G. |date=1996 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4613-0313-8 |oclc=958527742}}</ref>

Orientation toward the sea, as seen in turtle hatchlings, may rely partly on magnetoreception. In [[Loggerhead sea turtle|loggerhead]] and [[Leatherback sea turtle|leatherback]] turtles, breeding takes place on beaches, and, after hatching, offspring crawl rapidly to the sea. Although differences in light density seem to drive this behaviour, magnetic alignment appears to play a part. For instance, the natural directional preferences held by these hatchlings (which lead them from beaches to the sea) reverse upon experimental inversion of the magnetic poles.<ref name="Merrill Salmon 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Merrill |first1=Maria W. |last2=Salmon |first2=Michael |date=30 September 2010 |title=Magnetic orientation by hatchling loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from the Gulf of Mexico |journal=[[Marine Biology (journal)|Marine Biology]] |volume=158 |issue=1 |pages=101–112 |doi=10.1007/s00227-010-1545-y |s2cid=84391053 }}</ref>