00:03it's no secret that many animals have more acute senses than humans even being able to detect
00:08magnetic fields with an ability called magnetoreception but now a new study suggests it might have less
00:14to do with an animal's innate ability and more with microbes living inside their bodies magnetotactic
00:19bacteria or mtb use magnetic structures to maneuver via magnetic field lines and through symbiosis
00:25wildlife genomist robert fitak and his co-authors hypothesize they form a symbiotic relationship with
00:31animals giving the creatures a minor superpower while the microbes get a nice place to live
00:36but there are problems with this hypothesis principally what's the pathway for magnetic
00:41detecting microbes to communicate with the animal they're not entirely sure but they're following
00:45evidence from a previous study that found that particular link between mtb and microscopic marine
00:50protists and the researchers say their current study has uncovered that mtb are far more common
00:55than previously thought going largely overlooked the team are now testing their hypothesis
00:59experimenting with whether birds lose their keen magnetic driven sense of direction after receiving
01:04antibiotics
