研究人员在9700万年前的古海底沉积物中发现了微观磁化石，通过3D成像技术首次揭示其内部磁性结构呈漏斗状涡旋排列1。这些化石大小为10至20微米，比细菌使用的磁性颗粒大10至20倍1。剑桥大学和赫尔姆霍兹柏林研究中心的研究团队发现，这些磁化石具有检测地磁方向和强度的精密特性1。
研究人员认为，这些化石代表了已知最早的动物使用地球磁场进行导航的证据1。该未知生物能够精确导航数千公里，标志着动物磁感应能力进化的关键阶段1。研究人员推测这些化石可能来自鳗鱼，其进化时间约为100百万年前，现代欧洲鳗和美洲鳗都能迁徙数千公里至萨尔加索海1。剑桥大学的Rich Harrison教授表示："如果大自然开发了GPS，一种能够可靠地在海洋上导航数千公里的颗粒，那就会是这样的东西。"1
该研究已于2025年第6卷第1期发表在《地球与环境通讯》期刊上1。
Researchers have discovered microscopic magnetized fossils in seafloor sediments dating back 97 million years, providing the first evidence of animals using Earth's magnetic field for navigation in the ancient past 1. Using 3D imaging technology, scientists from Cambridge University and the Helmholtz Berlin Research Centre revealed that these fossils, measuring 10 to 20 micrometers across—roughly 10 to 20 times larger than magnetic particles used by bacteria—possess a distinctive funnel-shaped vortex arrangement of magnetic moments 1. This internal structure enabled the unknown organism to detect both the direction and intensity of Earth's magnetic field, allowing it to determine latitude and longitude with precision 1.
The fossils likely belonged to eels, which are thought to have evolved around 100 million years ago 1. Modern European and American eels undertake migrations spanning thousands of kilometers across the ocean to the Sargasso Sea, a capability that may have deep evolutionary roots in this magnetic sensing ability 1. Rich Harrison, a researcher involved in the study, remarked: "If nature had engineered a GPS—a particle capable of reliably navigating thousands of kilometers across the ocean—this would be it" 1. The findings, published in Communications Earth & Environment, Volume 6, Issue 1, in 2025, mark a critical phase in the evolution of animal magnetoreception and demonstrate that sophisticated navigation systems existed far earlier than previously documented 1.
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