Magnetic Fields Predict Loggerhead Turtle's Genes

These magnificent sea turtles have a secret navigation system

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Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US, published in Current Biology, has revealed vital insights that could help improve loggerhead sea turtle conservation.

The project, led by biologists Kenneth J Lohmann and J Roger Brothers, has found that species nesting on beaches with similar magnetic fields are genetically similar to one another. Loggerheads swim all around the world, but this research suggests that the groups that are most genetically similar are those nesting within similar magnetic fields, regardless of how close the beaches are to one another or how similar the environment.