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Early animals used Earth's magnetic field for GPS-like navigation
short by Swati Dubey / on Monday, 1 December, 2025
Scientists studying 97-million-year-old magnetofossil discovered that early animals likely used Earth's magnetic field for GPS-like navigation. They had tiny magnetic particles, called magnetic moments, which aligned with magnetic field and rotated like microscopic compasses. By sensing how these moments shifted with Earth's field, they could detect direction and position, facilitating navigation.