Research shows that bats cry to detect prey

Thursday, May 1, 2008

New research has indicated that bats will 'cry out loud' to detect their prey. The report, which was published at PLoS ONE, states that "source level varied with species, but all bats emitted intense search call."

The report also states that bats will make calls with a lesser intensity when they are close to the ground. It says that "at close range there was a distinct correlation between distance and source level, such that the closer a bat was to the array and therefore also to the ground, vegetation or buildings behind the array, the less intense were its emitted calls."

The authors of the reports also noted that the bats that fly away from obstructions did not produce the loudest calls. This is despite the fact that they originally predicted otherwise.

The report also noted other findings that were different from the original predictions. It says that they were surprised that "the most intense source levels did not necessarily provide the longest prey detection ranges."

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Echolocating Bats Cry Out Loud to Detect Their Prey

Charles Q. Choi. Bats Screech Louder Than Rock Concerts — FOX News, May 1, 2008
Annemarie Surlykke, Elisabeth K. V. Kalko. Echolocating Bats Cry Out Loud to Detect Their Prey — PLoS ONE, April 30, 2008
Susan Milius. Bat That Roared: Bat echolocation louder than fire alarms — Science News, April 30, 2008
Roaring Bats: New Scientific Results Show Bats Emitting More Decibels Than A Rock Concert — ScienceDaily, April 29, 2008

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