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Welcome to our Physics lesson on Magnetism in Animals, this is the eighth lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Introduction to Magnetism, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.
Some animals such as pigeons and magnetostatic bacteria use the Earth magnetic field to find the direction of motion. Thus, pigeons have some small particles known as "magnetites" on the back of their head. When pigeons fly, magnetites interact with Earth magnetic field and help them find the right direction.
On the other hand, magnetostatic bacteria - which live in Polar regions - move up and down in water according the Earth magnetic field lines in these regions, to find their food. In this way, they can move down to nutrient-rich sediments or stay in optimal depths in water.
Other animals that are found to contain magnetites include monarch butterflies, tuna fish, whales, dolphins, etc.
You have reached the end of Physics lesson 16.1.8 Magnetism in Animals. There are 9 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Introduction to Magnetism, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.
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