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    • Study reveals how bats use echolocation and vision to navigate over long periods of time
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    Study reveals how bats use echolocation and vision to navigate over long periods of time

    Pabio Posted on

    A new study published in the journal Science reveals that Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats can navigate long distances using echolocation and vision. The research describes how these bats can identify their location even after being moved or relocated. The study was carried out by a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, the Center of Excellence for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior at the University of Konstanz in Germany, Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. .

    Scientists conducted experiments with 76 Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats, tracking them near their roosts and relocating them within a three-kilometer radius. Each bat was tagged with an innovative lightweight reverse GPS tracking system called ATLAS, which provided high-resolution, real-time tracking. Some bats were equipped only with the ATLAS system, while others were additionally manipulated to assess how their vision, smell, magnetic sense and echolocation influenced their ability to return to their roosts.

    The research team aimed to isolate echolocation as a potential navigation tool. To achieve this, they first needed to find the right species of bat. They chose to study Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats, which weigh six grams and are common in Israel’s Hula Valley. These bats are known for their ability to assemble thousands of sound signatures into acoustic maps.

    Remarkably, even with echolocation alone, 95 percent of Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats returned to their roost within minutes, demonstrating their ability to perform kilometer-scale navigation using echolocation alone. Bats use environmental features with distinctive acoustic signals as reference points and cues. They can use acoustic information to distinguish environmental features such as a tree and a road, and thus use them as acoustic cues.

    During the localization phase after moving, Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats perform a meandering flight that, at some point, changes to directional flight toward their destination, suggesting that they already know where they are . The model revealed that they tend to fly near environmental features with higher “echoic entropy,” which are areas that provide richer acoustic information that can complement what they can see through their echolocation.

    In addition to field experiments, the team created a detailed map of the entire Hula Valley to understand what each bat experienced during its flight and how it used acoustic information to navigate. Research shows that bats can use echolocation to perform map navigation over long distances, with a sound map aiding navigation over distances of up to 1.8 miles.

    The study also found that when vision is available, Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats improve their navigation performance by combining their two senses. Aya Goldshtein, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany, said: “We were surprised to find that these bats also use vision. This was not what we expected. “It was amazing to see that even with such small eyes, they can rely on their vision in these conditions,” according to ScienceDaily.

    Bats have long been known to use echolocation to avoid obstacles and orient themselves, using this technique to find food and roosts. Echolocation is the ability of certain animals to know their surroundings by making sounds and interpreting the echoes they generate. Many species of bats use echolocation to avoid obstacles like tree branches and to hunt small insects while flying in the dark.

    However, navigation by echolocation was not obvious because echolocation has a limited range. Bats can use echolocation to detect objects up to a few dozen meters away. Echolocation is not omnidirectional; The cone of coverage that bats obtain through echolocation is typically a maximum of 120 degrees. Despite these limitations, Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats can travel several kilometers using echolocation alone, as shown in experiments where nearly 100 bats were moved three kilometers from their roost.

    The ability of bats to create acoustic maps suggests that they possess an acoustic mental map of their home range. They use these acoustic maps to successfully travel several kilometers across their hunting grounds. Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats fly closer to environmental features with more acoustic information and make navigation decisions. They use environmental agents with distinctive acoustic signals as reference points.

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    The study concludes that Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats can travel several kilometers using echolocation alone. When they have vision, they improve navigation performance by combining both senses. After being moved, bats first identify their new location and then return home, using environmental features with distinctive acoustic cues as landmarks.

    Echolocating bats face the challenge of recognizing their location and finding their way back from any random point within a three-kilometer radius in complete darkness, using echolocation alone. The research team showed that bats can use echolocation to know where they are and how to move over distances of several kilometers, demonstrating their navigation abilities even after being moved. This study reveals that echolocation for bats is much more than just a system for avoiding obstacles and targeting prey at close range.

    Sources: Page/12, Ars Technica, ScienceDaily

    This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq



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