Freake MJ
School of Biological Sciences, The Flinders University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia. mfreake@bio. indiana.edu.
J Exp Biol. 1999 May;202 (Pt 9):1159-66. doi: 10.1242/jeb.202.9.1159.
Adult sleepy lizards (Tiliqua rugosa) were trained to orient in a predictable direction under natural sky light in outdoor pens. When tested under clear skies in the late afternoon, without a view of the sun, the lizards exhibited a symmetrical bimodal pattern of orientation with respect to the trained axis. Since the e-vector of polarised light provides an axial rather than a polar cue, the bimodal orientation exhibited by the lizards is consistent with the use of a celestial compass based on sky polarisation patterns. To confirm that the lizards could orient with respect to a polarisation pattern, lizards were trained in indoor pens to orient in a predictable direction under a linearly polarised light source. When tested in a circular arena illuminated by another polarised light source, the lizards used the e-vector direction of the polarised light source to orient along the trained axis. There was no evidence that the lizards were using any room-specific cues or brightness patterns to orient in the training direction. These results support the hypothesis that the lizards can use the e-vector direction of polarised light in the form of a sky polarisation compass.
成年 sleepy lizards（松果蜥，Tiliqua rugosa）被训练在户外围栏的自然天光下朝可预测的方向定向。当在傍晚晴朗的天空下进行测试且看不到太阳时，这些蜥蜴相对于训练轴呈现出对称的双峰定向模式。由于偏振光的电场矢量提供的是轴向而非极性线索，蜥蜴表现出的双峰定向与基于天空偏振模式的天体罗盘的使用是一致的。为了证实蜥蜴能够相对于偏振模式进行定向，蜥蜴在室内围栏中接受训练，使其在一个线性偏振光源下朝可预测的方向定向。当在由另一个偏振光源照亮的圆形场地中进行测试时，蜥蜴利用偏振光源的电场矢量方向沿训练轴进行定向。没有证据表明蜥蜴在训练方向上定向时使用了任何特定于房间的线索或亮度模式。这些结果支持了这样一个假设，即蜥蜴能够以天空偏振罗盘的形式利用偏振光的电场矢量方向。
