POLARIZED-LIGHT PERCEPTION AND ORIENTATION IN LARVAL BULLFROGS RANA-CATESBEIANA

Bullfrog tadpoles, housed indoors in tanks with polarized light projected onto the shoreline, orientated predictably when tested indoors in a circular arena illuminated by polarized light. Tadpoles trained to move toward a compass direction outdoors orientated predictably at sunrise and sunset under clear sky with the sun out of view, but did not orientate under overcast sky. The involvement of polarized light in this response was suggested by experiments in which tadpoles trained outdoors and tested indoors under polarized light exhibited a tendency to orientate predictably on the basis of the pattern of polarization outdoors at the time of the test. © 1979.