Accurate sound localization behavior in a gleaning bat, Antrozous pallidus

Abstract

Acute auditory processing in bats is typically associated with echolocation. A subset of bats, called gleaners, listens to prey-generated noise to hunt surface-dwelling prey. Gleaners depend less on echolocation to hunt and, therefore, accurate localization of prey-generated noise is necessary for foraging success. Here we studied azimuth sound localization behavior in the pallid bat, a gleaning bat in which spatial encoding has been studied extensively. We tested pallid bats on a relatively difficult open loop task (single sound, duration ≤ 200 ms). The bats were trained to face the midline when stimulus was presented, and this was confirmed with video analysis. Bats localized broadband noise (5–30 kHz) from 1 out of 11 speakers spaced evenly across the horizontal plane of the frontal sound field. Approach to the correct speaker was rewarded. Pallid bats show accurate localization near the midline with mean errors between 3–6°. Remarkably, the accuracy does not decline significantly at peripheral locations with bats averaging <~7° error upto 72° off midline. Manipulation of stimulus bandwidth shows that higher frequencies (20–30 kHz) are necessary for accurate localization. Comparative studies of gleaning bats will reveal convergent adaptations across auditory systems for non-echolocation-based behaviors in bats.

Do blind persons have better audiometric hearing threshold values than sighted persons? A pair-matching analysis

“…Conversely, according to some psychophysical data on sound localization (15,16), in the horizontal plane only small, if any, differences was recorded between blind and sighted individuals which also agrees well with our observation. Furthermore, experiments with animal models have also reported minimal differences between blind and sighted, thereby concurring with our finding as well (17). Similarly, studies that assessed locating sound sources in the horizontal plane under binaural hearing conditions failed to find any significant differences in general accuracy between blind and sighted human subjects (18)(19).…”

We eat meat: a review of carnivory in bats

“…, Witt & Fabián 2010, Vernier & Vedovato 2011, Fukui et al 2013, Jones et al 2013, Smirnov & Vekhnik 2013, Surlykke et al 2013, Halfwerk et al 2014, Kaliraj 2014, Smarsh & Smotherman 2015, Ibáñez et al 2016, Ripperger et al 2016, Jones et al 2017, Smarsh & Smotherman 2017, Brewton et al 2018, Czaplewski et al 2018, Vargas-Mena et al 2018, Vleut et al 2019, Carvalho et al 2020, Jones et al 2020, Page & Bernal 2020, Perrella et al 2020 …”

A perspective on neuroethology: what the past teaches us about the future of neuroethology

“…Hence, acoustic communication in diverse species is central to the research of many neuroethologists (Kelley 2004;Elie and Theunissen 2020;Römer 2021;Narins et al 2023). However, the acoustic sense is also useful for nocturnal orientation, whether it is used in the context of echolocation in bats (Beetz and Hechavarría 2022) or localizing potential prey by passively listening to prey-emitted sounds (Singheiser et al 2012;Brewton et al 2018). During foraging, chemosensation is also essential to localizing food and determining its quality.…”