How greater mouse-eared bats deal with ambiguous echoic scenes

Echolocating bats have to assign the received echoes to the correct call that generated them. Failing to do so will result in the perception of virtual targets that are positioned where there is no actual target. The assignment of echoes to the emitted calls can be ambiguous especially if the pulse...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Comparative Physiology 2011-05, Vol.197 (5), p.505-514
Main Authors: Melcón, M. L, Yovel, Y, Denzinger, A, Schnitzler, H.-U
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological - physiology
Animal Physiology
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Chiroptera
Chiroptera - physiology
Discrimination Learning - physiology
Echolocation - physiology
Flight, Animal - physiology
hearing
Life Sciences
Male
Neurosciences
Orientation - physiology
Original Paper
Pattern Recognition, Physiological - physiology
sounds
Time Factors
Zoology
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Summary:Echolocating bats have to assign the received echoes to the correct call that generated them. Failing to do so will result in the perception of virtual targets that are positioned where there is no actual target. The assignment of echoes to the emitted calls can be ambiguous especially if the pulse intervals between calls are short and kept constant. Here, we present first evidence that greater mouse-eared bats deal with ambiguity by changing the pulse interval more often, in particular by reducing the number of calls in the terminal group before landing. This strategy separates virtual targets from real ones according to their change in position. Real targets will always remain in a constant position, and virtual targets will jitter back and forth according to the change in the time interval.
ISSN:0340-7594
1432-1351
DOI:10.1007/s00359-010-0563-z