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Bat Echolocation: Adaptations for Prey Detection and Capture

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Predator–Prey Interactions: Co-evolution between Bats and Their Prey

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Animal Sciences ((BRIEFSANIMAL))

Abstract

Bats have evolved a plethora of adaptations in response to the challenges of their diverse habitats and the physics of sound propagation . Such adaptations can confound investigations of adaptations that arise in response to prey. Here, we review the adaptations in the echolocation and foraging behaviour of bats. Bats use a variety of foraging modes including aerial hawking and gleaning . The main challenge to bats echolocating in clutter is increased resolution to detect small objects, be they insects or twigs, and overcoming the masking effects that result from the overlap of echoes from prey and the background. Low-duty-cycle echolocating bats that aerial hawk in clutter have evolved short, frequency-modulated calls with high bandwidth that increase resolution and minimizes masking effects . Bats that glean prey from the vegetation have similar adaptations but in addition use passive listening and/or 3-D flight to ensonify substrate-bound prey from different directions. High-duty-cycle echolocating bats have evolved Doppler-shift compensation which allows the detection of acoustic glints from the flapping wings of insects. Bats that aerial hawk in the open have to search large volumes of space efficiently and use narrowband , low-frequency (for decrease atmospheric attenuation ) echolocation calls that maximize detection distance . The wings and echolocation of bats form an adaptive complex. Bats that forage in clutter where distances are short have short broad wings for slow, manoeuvrable flight. Bats that hunt in the open where detection distances are long have long narrow wings for fast, agile flight.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Evolution and Systematics Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    David Steve Jacobs

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Anna Bastian

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  1. David Steve Jacobs
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  2. Anna Bastian
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Correspondence to David Steve Jacobs .

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Jacobs, D.S., Bastian, A. (2016). Bat Echolocation: Adaptations for Prey Detection and Capture. In: Predator–Prey Interactions: Co-evolution between Bats and Their Prey. SpringerBriefs in Animal Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32492-0_2

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