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Homing of Pigeons after Extirpation of their Cochleae and Lagenae

Abstract

THE following two considerations led to the experiments described here. First, the physical and physiological bases of bird homing are still unknown1, 2. Furthermore, the function of a well developed sense organ in the inner ear of the birds, the lagena, is also unknown3, 4. One may speculate therefore5, 6 that this otolith organ with an unknown function is related to homing, that function with unknown sensory inputs. Second, certain results obtained from pigeons kept in shielded aviaries suggest that dynamic processes in the atmosphere play some role in bird navigation7, 8. They call attention to the inner ear and especially to the cochlea and/or lagena as a possible sense organ for atmospheric pressure changes. Griffin1 touched on this aspect recently by discussing a possible contribution of sounds, infrasounds, or dynamic structures of air currents to bird orientation.

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References

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WALLRAFF, H. Homing of Pigeons after Extirpation of their Cochleae and Lagenae. Nature New Biology 236, 223–224 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio236223a0

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