Navigational systems develop along similar lines in amphibians, reptiles, and birds

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Abstract
All navigating organisms face similar constraints in terms of the environmental cues that are potentially available to them and the permanence of these cues over evolutionary time. Because these limits are imposed on all organisms, one might expect analogues to occur in the types of cues and orientation strategies used, and in the ontogenetic development of navigational skills among various taxa. Some birds, alligators, turtles, toads and salamanders have been shown to navigate, that is to return to the origin of a displacement in the absence of familiar landmarks or goalemanating cues. Recent work on alligators and homing pigeons illustrates striking parallels between bird and reptile navigational development. In the youngest individuals of both groups the map step of navigation (determination of geographic position) seems to be solved by route-based navigation (continuous position monitoring). Once a local map has been established by repeated exploratory forays, older birds and alligators apparently become capable of extrapolating this map to unfamiliar sites using large scale environmental gradients. The sensory mechanisms used for both the map and compass components of homing are strikingly similar in the amphibians, reptiles and birds. Both celestial and magnetic compasses are well established in all three groups. Although the sensory basis of the navigational map has not been unequivocally established for any group, both magnetic and olfactory cues have been implicated in amphibians, reptiles and birds. These similarities suggest that common mechanisms may underlie true navigation in a variety of vertebrate groups.