Inner clock may lead Monarch butterflies

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	Inner clock may lead Monarch butterflies

pokkets

1-9-2008 5:38 PM

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pokkets says:

They know where they are, according to the position of the sun. Scientists are trying to understand how a butterfly has this sense of direction, with a brain the size of a pin. Plants can grow according to the length of the day. Perhaps one day we'll develop a gene that will mean we can do without GPS

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/9d75a4a8-e963-426d-8f1d-c31551cda71a/CC220B71-9925-43CB-9C96-5B767643DD74/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Science\20080109\Mexico_Monarch_Butterflies_20080109.xml&cat=science&subcat=&pageid=1" href="http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Science\20080109\Mexico_Monarch_Butterflies_20080109.xml&cat=science&subcat=&pageid=1" style="font-size: 11px;">www.mail.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Science\20080109\Mexico_Monarch_Butterflies_20080109.xml&cat=science&subcat=&pageid=1"><DIV class="author">TRACI CARL    </DIV><A href="javascript:alert('This link contains javascript. Please visit the clip source to follow this link.');" target="_self"><IMG width="157" height="210" border="0" align="left" src="http://www.vimg.net/darwin/cms/images/APNews/Science/20080109/Mexico Monarch Butterflies_20080109_NYOL94501082234_180x210.jpg" class="thumbnail3" /></A><P>Scientists have discovered genetic information that helps explain how monarch butterflies find their way from Canada to winter nesting grounds in the mountains of Mexico.</P><P>The study, published online Tuesday in the PLoS Biology Journal and the Public Library of Science, found that the butterflies' biological clocks help them use the sun as a compass.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Science\20080109\Mexico_Monarch_Butterflies_20080109.xml&cat=science&subcat=&pageid=1">Dr. Steven Reppert, the University of Massachusetts neurobiologist who led the study's seven-member research team, said monarch butterflies have unique circadian clocks, which regulate daily activities like sleep and hunger.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Science\20080109\Mexico_Monarch_Butterflies_20080109.xml&cat=science&subcat=&pageid=1">The researchers genetically mapped the molecular underpinings</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Science\20080109\Mexico_Monarch_Butterflies_20080109.xml&cat=science&subcat=&pageid=1">of the butterflies' circadian clocks and found cryptochrome proteins common in both insects and mammals. Reppert believes these proteins enable the monarchs to navigate using the sun's position in the sky.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Science\20080109\Mexico_Monarch_Butterflies_20080109.xml&cat=science&subcat=&pageid=1">"A butterfly's brain is no bigger than the head of a pin, and yet it has this incredible capability. So we really want to understand that,"</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/CC220B71-9925-43CB-9C96-5B767643DD74/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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