发表文章A magnetic compass guides the direction of foraging in a bat
作者：Lanxiang Tian, Bingfang Zhang, Jinshuo Zhang, Tongwei Zhang, Yao Cai, Huafeng Qin, Walter Metzner, Yongxin Pan
Previously, two studies have provided evidence that bats can use magnetic feld cues for homing or roosting. For insectivorous bats, it is well established that foraging represents one of the most fundamental behaviors in animals relies on their ability to echolocate. Whether echolocating bats can also use magnetic cues during foraging remains unknown, however. Here, we tested the orientation behavior of Chinese noctules (Nyctalus plancyi) during foraging in a plus-shaped, 4-channel apparatus under diferent magnetic feld conditions. To minimize the efects of spatial memory on orientation from repeated experiments, naive bats were tested only once in each experimental condition. As expected, under geomagnetic feld and a food resource ofered conditions, the bats signifcantly preferred to enter the channel containing food, indicating that they primarily relied on direct sensory signals unrelated to magnetic cues. In contrast, when we ofered food simultaneously in all four channels and minimized any diferences in all other sensory signals available, the bats exhibited a clear directional preference to forage along the magnetic feld direction under either geomagnetic feld or a magnetic feld in which the horizontal component was rotated by 90°. Our study ofers a novel evidence for the importance of a geomagnetic feld during foraging.