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Publication Date
January 2018
Abstract
Substantial evidence now supports the hypothesis that the common ancestor of bats was nocturnal and capable of both powered flight and laryngeal echolocation. This scenario entails a parallel sensory and biomechanical transition from a nonvolant, vision-reliant mammal to one capable of sonar and flight. Here we consider anatomical constraints and opportunities that led to a sonar rather than vision-based solution. We show that bats’ common ancestor had eyes too small to allow for successful aerial hawking of flying insects at night, but an auditory brain design sufficient to afford echolocation. Further, we find that among extant predatory bats (all of which use laryngeal echolocation), those with putatively less sophis- ticated biosonar have relatively larger eyes than do more sophisticated echolocators. We contend that signs of ancient trade-offs between vision and echolocation persist today, and that non-echolocating, phytophagous pteropodid bats may retain some of the necessary foundations for biosonar.
Keywords
Laryngeal Echolocation, Bats, Biomechanical Transition, Phytophagous Pteropodidae, Predatory Bats
Description
1 online resource
Subject: topical
Laryngeal Echolocation; Bats; Biomechanical Transition; Phytophagous Pteropodidae; Predatory Bats
Type
Article
Genre
Serial publications
Identifier
K26-05062
Recommended Citation
Thiagavel, Jeneni; Cechetto, Clément; Santana, Sharlene E.; Jakobsen, Lasse; and Warrant, Eric J., "Auditory opportunity and visual constraint enabled the evolution of echolocation in bats" (2018). KIP Articles. 323.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/323
