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Juvenile green turtles at several years of age can register geomagnetic landmarks.
While newly hatched sea turtles derive a rudimentary sense of direction from the magnetic field around them, juvenile green turtles at several years of age, such as this one, can register geomagnetic landmarks, allowing them to compile navigational maps and determine their location. How turtles detect magnetic fields is not known.
Credit: University of Central Florida Marine Turtle Research
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Related story: Geomagnetic Landmarks Give Turtles Sense of Where They Are, Where to Go