Magnetoreception is a sense which allows an organism to detect the Earth's magnetic field. Animals with this sense include some arthropods, molluscs, and vertebrates. The sense is mainly used for orientation and navigation, but it may help some animals to form regional maps. Experiments on migratory birds provide evidence that they make use of a cryptochrome protein in the eye, relying on the quantum radical pair mechanism to perceive magnetic fields. This effect is extremely sensitive to weak magnetic fields, and readily disturbed by radio-frequency interference, unlike a conventional iron compass.
Experiments on European robins, which are migratory, suggest their magnetic sense makes use of the quantum radical pair mechanism.
The yellow stingray is able to sense the intensity and inclination angle of a magnetic field.
Magnetoreception plays a part in guiding loggerhead hatchlings to the sea
The Zambian mole-rat is one of several mammals that use magnetic fields, in their case for nest orientation.
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as such, many more are now recognized. Senses used by non-human organisms are even greater in variety and number. During sensation, sense organs collect various stimuli for transduction, meaning transformation into a form that can be understood by the brain. Sensation and perception are fundamental to nearly every aspect of an organism's cognition, behavior and thought.
Philippe Mercier - The Sense of Taste - Google Art Project
The sense of smell. Bequest of Mrs E.G. Elgar, 1945 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Lairesse's Allegory of the Five Senses
Detail of The Senses of Hearing, Touch and Taste, Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1618
