Animal echolocation

A depiction of the ultrasound signals emitted by a bat, and the echo from a nearby object

Echolocation, also called bio sonar, is a biological sonar used by several animal species. Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects. Echolocation is used for navigation, foraging, and hunting in various environments.

Echolocating animals include mammals, most notably Laurasiatheria, especially odontocetes (toothed whales) and some bat species, and also, using simpler forms, species in other groups such as shrews. A few bird species also echolocate, including two cave-dwelling bird groups, the so-called cave swiftlets in the genus Aerodramus (formerly Collocalia) and the unrelated oilbird Steatornis caripensis.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

^ Teeling EC, Jones G, Rossiter SJ (2016). "Phylogeny, Genes, and Hearing: Implications for the Evolution of Echolocation in Bats". In Fenton MB, Grinnell AD, Popper AN, Fay RN (eds.). Bat Bioacoustics. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research. Vol. 54. New York: Springer. pp. 25–54. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-3527-7_2. ISBN 9781493935277.
^ Tsagkogeorga G, Parker J, Stupka E, Cotton JA, Rossiter SJ (November 2013). "Phylogenomic analyses elucidate the evolutionary relationships of bats". Current Biology. 23 (22): 2262–2267. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.09.014. PMID 24184098.
^ Buchler, E.R. (November 1976). "The use of echolocation by the wandering shrew (Sorex vagrans)". Animal Behaviour. 24 (4): 858–873. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(76)80016-4. S2CID 53160608.
^ He, Kai; Liu, Qi; Xu, Dong-Ming; Qi, Fei-Yan; Bai, Jing; He, Shui-Wang; Chen, Peng; Zhou, Xin; Cai, Wan-Zhi; Chen, Zhong-Zheng; Liu, Zhen; Jiang, Xue-Long; Shi, Peng (2021-06-18). "Echolocation in soft-furred tree mice". Science. 372 (6548): eaay1513. doi:10.1126/science.aay1513. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 34140356. S2CID 235463083.

[1] Teeling EC, Jones G, Rossiter SJ (2016). "Phylogeny, Genes, and Hearing: Implications for the Evolution of Echolocation in Bats". In Fenton MB, Grinnell AD, Popper AN, Fay RN (eds.). Bat Bioacoustics. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research. Vol. 54. New York: Springer. pp. 25–54. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-3527-7_2. ISBN 9781493935277.

[2] Tsagkogeorga G, Parker J, Stupka E, Cotton JA, Rossiter SJ (November 2013). "Phylogenomic analyses elucidate the evolutionary relationships of bats". Current Biology. 23 (22): 2262–2267. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.09.014. PMID 24184098.

[3] Buchler, E.R. (November 1976). "The use of echolocation by the wandering shrew (Sorex vagrans)". Animal Behaviour. 24 (4): 858–873. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(76)80016-4. S2CID 53160608.

[4] He, Kai; Liu, Qi; Xu, Dong-Ming; Qi, Fei-Yan; Bai, Jing; He, Shui-Wang; Chen, Peng; Zhou, Xin; Cai, Wan-Zhi; Chen, Zhong-Zheng; Liu, Zhen; Jiang, Xue-Long; Shi, Peng (2021-06-18). "Echolocation in soft-furred tree mice". Science. 372 (6548): eaay1513. doi:10.1126/science.aay1513. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 34140356. S2CID 235463083.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]