TITLE

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN BIG BROWN BAT (EPTESICUS FUSCUS) ULTRASONIC VOCALIZATIONS IS CONTEXT DEPENDENT

AUTHOR(S)

GRILLIOT, MATTHEW E.; BURNETT, STEPHEN C.; MENDON�A, MARY T.

PUB. DATE

February 2009

SOURCE

Journal of Mammalogy;Feb2009, Vol. 90 Issue 1, p203

SOURCE TYPE

Academic Journal

DOC. TYPE

Article

ABSTRACT

Although bats are well known for their use of ultrasound for echolocation, there is limited evidence for its use in a social context. We tested whether ultrasonic vocalizations in bats were contextually (roosting or flying) sexually dimorphic. During the reproductive season, we recorded ultrasonic signals of captive adult male and female big brown bats while the bats were flying on tether lines in the field, and compared these signals to ultrasonic vocalizations made while roosting in an anechoic chamber. Principal component analysis reduced 7 ultrasonic call descriptors to 2 components that related to frequency (PC1) and time or shape (PC2). While bats were roosting, ultrasonic call components related to time or shape and frequency were both sexually dimorphic, being increased in males in each instance. However, when bats were recorded while flying, these same call components were no longer sexually dimorphic. This finding suggests that bats are changing their ultrasonic calls in relation to functional context, making them monomorphic and utilitarian for activities such as foraging and navigation, but dimorphic in a situation when mating activity is likely.

ACCESSION #

36576999

Tags: BATS;  BAT sounds;  SOCIAL context;  MAMMALS;  ANIMAL flight;  ANIMAL sounds

 

Related Articles

• Things to look out for: Bats. Gates, Tessa // Farmers Weekly;7/21/2006, Vol. 145 Issue 3, p79 

  The article presents facts about bats. Bats are fascinating creatures and warm summer evenings are just the time to spot them flitting around farm buildings or swooping low near ponds. Bats are not blind but they have a special way of seeing things in the dark. This is called echo-location. Bats...

• THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ULTRASOUND SOCIAL CALLS OF ADULT RHINOLOPHUS FERRUMEQUINUM FROM INFANT BAT ULTRASOUND CALLS. ANDREWS, MARGARET M.; McOWAT, TOM P.; ANDREWS, PETER T.; HAYCOCK, ROBERT J. // Bioacoustics (AB Academic Publishers);2011, Vol. 20 Issue 3, p297 

  The article presents a study which aims to categorize the harmonics, frequency, and duration of the ultrasound calls of infant Rhinolophus (R.) ferrumequinum compared to adult R. ferrumequinum. It notes that the study recorded the calls of infant R. ferrumequinum in a nursery roost in West Wales...

• BIGMOUTH BATS. Adams, Jacqueline // Science World;9/1/2008, Vol. 65 Issue 1, p5 

  The article reports that researchers from the University of Southern Denmark found that the greater bulldog bat is the loudest known flying animal.

• Human vs. machine: identification of bat species from their echolocation calls by humans and by artificial neural networks. Jennings, N.; Parsons, S.; Pocock, M. J. O. // Canadian Journal of Zoology;May2008, Vol. 86 Issue 5, p371 

  Automated remote ultrasound detectors allow large amounts of data on bat presence and activity to be collected. Processing of such data involves identifying bat species from their echolocation calls. Automated species identification has the potential to provide more consistent, predictable, and...

• Convergent acoustic field of view in echolocating bats. Jakobsen, Lasse; Ratcliffe, John M.; Surlykke, Annemarie // Nature;1/3/2013, Vol. 493 Issue 7430, p93 

  Most echolocating bats exhibit a strong correlation between body size and the frequency of maximum energy in their echolocation calls (peak frequency), with smaller species using signals of higher frequency than larger ones. Size-signal allometry or acoustic detection constraints imposed on...

• Versatility and Stereotypy of Free-Tailed Bat Songs. Bohn, Kirsten M.; Schmidt-French, Barbara; Schwartz, Christine; Smotherman, Michael; Pollak, George D. // PLoS ONE;2009, Vol. 4 Issue 8, p1 

  In mammals, complex songs are uncommon and few studies have examined song composition or the order of elements in songs, particularly with respect to regional and individual variation. In this study we examine how syllables and phrases are ordered and combined, ie ''syntax'', of the song of...

• Social Vocalizations of Big Brown Bats Vary with Behavioral Context. Gadziola, Marie A.; S. Grimsley, Jasmine M.; Faure, Paul A.; Wenstrup, Jeffrey J.; Li I Zhang // PLoS ONE;Sep2012, Vol. 7 Issue 9, Special section p1 

  Bats are among the most gregarious and vocal mammals, with some species demonstrating a diverse repertoire of syllables under a variety of behavioral contexts. Despite extensive characterization of big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) biosonar signals, there have been no detailed studies of adult...

• bat.  // American Heritage Student Science Dictionary;2009, p35 

  A definition of the term "bat" is presented. The term refers to any of various flying mammals that have thin wings consisting of skin that extends from the forelimbs to the hind limbs or tail. Bats are usually active at night and use echolocation to navigate. INSET: bat.

• Metabolic costs of bat echolocation in a on-foraging context support a role in communication. Dechmann, Dina K. N.; Wikelski, Martin; van Noordwijk, Hendrika J.; Voigt, Christian C.; Voigt-Heucke, Silke L. // Frontiers in Physiology;Mar2013, p1 

  The exploitation of information is a key adaptive behaviour of social animals, and many animals produce costly signals to communicate with conspecifics. In contrast, bats produce ultrasound for auto-communication, i.e., they emit ultrasound calls and behave in response to the received echo....

Read the Article