Scientific study explores how bats use sounds to predict the future

By Georgia Lambert via SWNS

Bats use ultrasonic echoes of their voice to hunt prey and work out their size to increase their chances of a successful nighttime hunt, reveals new research.

Scientists explored how bats rely on acoustic information from the echoes of their own vocalizations to hunt airborne insects.

Most predators rely on their vision, but bats create discrete "echo snapshots" to build an idea of their environment before going out for dinner.

According to the experts, they produce sounds for echolocation through contracting the larynx or clicking their tongues before analyzing the returning echoes.

This acoustic information then helps them navigate and forage for food, often in total darkness.

These echo snapshots provide sensory information about the target insect trajectory, which the twilight hunters use to predict models of the prey's location, so they can track and intercept their dinner.

Dr. Angeles Salles, of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, said:

"We think this is an innate capability, such as humans can predict where a ball will land when it is tossed at them.

"Once a bat has located a target, it uses the acoustic information to calculate the speed of the prey and anticipate where it will be next."

Dr. Salles went on to explain that the calls produced by the bats are usually ultrasonic, which often doesn't register in human hearing.

Echolocating bats are then able to integrate the acoustic snapshots of their environment over time, with larger prey producing stronger echoes, in order to predict prey movement in uncertain conditions.

Dr. Salles explained this further and said: "Prey with erratic flight maneuvers and clutter in the environment does lead to an accumulation of errors in their prediction.

"If the target does not appear where the bat expects it to, they will start searching again."

Dr. Salles explained that by combining the assortment of prey echoes, bats can determine prey distance, their size, shape, and density, all while identifying what species they are tracking.

Previous studies have shown that bats learn to steer away from the prey they deem unappetizing.

Dr. Salles presented the findings at the 181st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Seattle.