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Bats Make Calls to Jam Rivals' Sonar

PostPosted: Nov 6, 2014 8:48 pm
by Squirrel Girl

Re: Bats Make Calls to Jam Rivals' Sonar

PostPosted: Nov 6, 2014 11:00 pm
by caver.adam
Funny timing. I just heard this on NPR.

Re: Bats Make Calls to Jam Rivals' Sonar

PostPosted: Nov 7, 2014 6:49 pm
by driggs
This National Geographic coverage botches a few of the facts, but Aaron's paper is published in the journal Science, should you have access to read it, and their "popular news" coverage - Science Mag: Holy blocked bat signal! Bats jam each other's calls - is pretty excellent if you aren't interested in an academic paper.

Even better, however, is this short video, which illustrates bats' search, approach, feeding buzz, and jamming calls - Bats jam each other's signals just like humans jam cell phones



While there could be other interpretations for this novel call type, it really does look like these Mexican Free-Tailed Bats are actually using "offensive" calls so that competing bats are less likely to successfully catch prey on the wing. If so, it's the first time this inter-specific jamming behavior has ever been documented.

The world of echolocation, however, is much more complicated than simply "sonar". The author of this research has also done a great deal of work studying the co-evolution of moths, some of whom have the ability to detect echolocation so they can evade an incoming bat, and some of whom have passive sonar jamming ("stealth" body parts) or even active jamming by emitting ultrasound! His website is fascinating if you're interested in learning more: Aaron Corcoran, SonarJamming.com

Re: Bats Make Calls to Jam Rivals' Sonar

PostPosted: Nov 7, 2014 9:33 pm
by Squirrel Girl