Researchers recently found out that cows seem to know how to find north and south. The research team which reached this conclusion studied numerous satellite photographs of cow herds all over the world. The study’s findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team of German and Czech scientists noted the fact that, when grazing or resting, cows have the tendency to align their bodies in a north-south direction. As many as 8,510 in 308 pasture plains were observed through Google Earth images, the study said.

The resolution of the photos did not allow researchers to tell apart the head from the rear of the cattle, but one thing was sure: all cows have the tendency to face either north or south.

"In Africa and South America, the cattle (were) shifted slightly to a more north-eastern-south-western direction,” said Dr Sabine Begall, from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. She added that the explanation of this differential may be the fact that Earth's magnetic field is much weaker in that region.

"The magnetic field of the Earth has to be considered as a factor," scientists involved in this research said.

Actually, about 60 to 70 percent of the cows are positioning themselves from north to south, while the others are remaining in random positions. Begall described the percentage as a "highly significant deviation from random distribution."

So cows have an internal GPS and can tell which way is north and which way is south. But why do they position themselves like that?

Well, it seems that they do it for comfort. Their body temperature is 102 and the leather doesn’t make it any easier for them to resist high temperatures. The north-south alignment seems to help them keep cool.

The cow isn’t the only animal with this kind of behavior. Wild deer, many species of birds and the salmon are also making use of the magnetic compass to orient.