Laboratory studies of homing orientation in the eastern red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens

Abstract

The orientation behaviour of adult male eastern red-spotted newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) was studied in laboratory tests. Newts were collected from ponds located 10-30 km from the laboratory, and housed in water-filled, all-glass aquaria located in a greenhouse or outdoors adjacent to the laboratory building. The aquaria were aligned on the magnetic north-south axis. Newts were tested in a dry, enclosed arena in four magnetic fields: the ambient magnetic field (magnetic north at North) and three altered fields (magnetic north rotated to East, West or South). Newts tested during January-March exhibited weak bimodal magnetic orientation along the axis of the holding tank. However, during the spring migratory period (April until early May), the bimodal response shifted to coincide with the direction of the pond from which the newts had been collected. Much stronger unimodal orientation was elicited by elevating the water temperature to 33-34 degrees C immediately prior to testing. If newts were held in a training tank with an artificial shoreline at one end and exposed to elevation of water temperature after several days of stable water temperatures, they exhibited unimodal shoreward orientation and did not show the seasonal switch to homing behaviour observed in the earlier tests. If, however, the elevation of water temperature followed a period of fluctuating water temperature (over a 20 degrees C range), the newts exhibited strong unimodal orientation in the direction of the pond from which they had been collected. These results suggest that newts possess a navigational system that enables them to home from distances in excess of 20 km. Moreover, these experiments provide the first opportunity to examine the sensory basis of navigational ability in any animal under controlled laboratory conditions.