When calling loudly, echolocation is costly for small bats

(Forschungsverbund Berlin) Calling in the ultrasonic range enables small bats to orient themselves in the dark and track down insects. Louder calls travel farther, improving a bat's ability to detect their prey. It was long assumed that echolocation does not contribute much to energy expenditure in flight because individuals couple their calls with the beat of their wings. Scientists at the Leibniz-IZW in Berlin have now shown that high intensity echolocation calls substantially contribute to energy expenditure.

Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - July 13, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news