Bats Actively Use Leaves as Specular Reflectors to Detect Acoustically Camouflaged Prey

Current Biology : CB
I GeipelRalph Simon

Abstract

Filtering relevant signals from noisy sensory input is a crucial challenge for animals [1, 2]. Many bats are acoustic specialists relying on sound to find prey. They discern salient acoustic signals from irrelevant background masking noise. It has long been considered a sensory impossibility for bats to use solely echolocation for the detection of silent and motionless prey resting directly on foliage due to the masking effects of background echoes [3, 4]. Some bats, however, do successfully perform this seemingly impossible task [5], raising the question-what underlying acoustic and behavioral mechanisms do bats use to solve this conundrum? To address this question, we used biomimetic sonar to record high-resolution measurements of echoes from insects resting on leaves. Based on our echo recordings, we predicted optimal approach angles from which masking echoes can best be avoided. In behavioral experiments, we put these predictions to test. We recorded the prey approach behavior of wild bats in a flight cage equipped with an ultrasonic microphone synchronized with two high-speed cameras for 3D flightpath reconstructions. Bats approached prey from our predicted optimal oblique angles, using the leaf as a specular reflector to ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 22, 2020·Biology Letters·Inga GeipelHannah M Ter Hofstede
May 19, 2020·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·James A M GallowayLaura A Kelley
Aug 28, 2020·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Peter A WagenhäuserA Leonie Baier
Nov 26, 2020·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Daniel Lewanzik, Holger R Goerlitz
Mar 3, 2021·Environmental Science & Technology·Ana PrevišićMarko Rožman
May 29, 2021·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Harish PrakashRohini Balakrishnan
Aug 25, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Inga GeipelRachel A Page

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