| An aerial-hawking bat uses stealth echolocation to counter moth hearing. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20727755 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Ears evolved in many nocturnal insects, including some moths, to detect bat echolocation calls and evade capture [1, 2]. Although there is evidence that some bats emit echolocation calls that are inconspicuous to eared moths, it is difficult to determine whether this was an adaptation to moth hearing or originally evolved for a different purpose [2, 3]. Aerial-hawking bats generally emit high-amplitude echolocation calls to maximize detection range [4, 5]. Here we present the first example of an echolocation counterstrategy to overcome prey hearing at the cost of reduced detection distance. We combined comparative bat flight-path tracking and moth neurophysiology with fecal DNA analysis to show that the barbastelle, Barbastella barbastellus, emits calls that are 10 to 100 times lower in amplitude than those of other aerial-hawking bats, remains undetected by moths until close, and captures mainly eared moths. Model calculations demonstrate that only bats emitting such low-amplitude calls hear moth echoes before their calls are conspicuous to moths. This stealth echolocation allows the barbastelle to exploit food resources that are difficult to catch for other aerial-hawking bats emitting calls of greater amplitude. |
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Authors:
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Holger R Goerlitz; Hannah M ter Hofstede; Matt R K Zeale; Gareth Jones; Marc W Holderied |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2010-08-19 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Current biology : CB Volume: 20 ISSN: 1879-0445 ISO Abbreviation: Curr. Biol. Publication Date: 2010 Sep |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-09-13 Completed Date: 2011-01-28 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9107782 Medline TA: Curr Biol Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 1568-72 Citation Subset: IM |
Copyright Information:
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Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Affiliation:
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School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol, UK. |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Chiroptera / physiology* Echolocation* Moths / physiology* |
| Grant Support | |
ID/Acronym/Agency:
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//Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council |
| Comments/Corrections | |
Erratum In:
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Curr Biol. 2010 Sep 14;20(17):1588 |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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