Summary
The abilities of 11 Greater Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) to discriminate an oscillating from a stationary target by evaluating Doppler shifts in the echoes were studied in a two-alternative forced-choice procedure. At oscillation frequencies (f osc) from 5–30 Hz the best performing bat reached the threshold of 75% correct choices at approximately constant modulation depths of 60 Hz. Atf osc above 30 Hz the threshold modulation depths decreased with increasingf osc down to only 12 Hz at af osc of 200 Hz whereas the thresholds of the maximal sweep rate stayed constant at about 6 Hz/ms. The results demonstrate that Greater Horseshoe bats evaluate frequency modulations caused by oscillating target movements. They suggest the existence of two separate mechanisms for the detection of modulations forf osc between 5–30 Hz and forf osc above 30 Hz.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Heilmann U (1982) Das Frequenzunterscheidungsvermögen der Groβen Hufeisennase,Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. 56. Hauptvers Dtsch Ges Säugetierkd
Neuweiler G (1980) Auditory processing of echoes: peripheral processing. In: Busnel RG, Fish JF (eds) Animal sonar systems. Plenum Press, New York, pp 519–548
Pollak GD (1980) Organizational and encoding features of single neurons in the inferior colliculus of bats. In: Busnel RG, Fish JF (eds) Animal sonar systems. Plenum Press, New York, pp 549–587
Schnitzler H-U (1968) Die Ultraschall-Ortungslaute der Hufeisen-Fledermäuse (Chiroptera-Rhinolophidae) in verschiedenen Orientierungssituationen. Z Vergl Physiol 57:376–408
Schnitzler H-U (1970a) Echoortung bei der FledermausChilonycteris rubiginosa. Z Vergl Physiol 68:25–39
Schnitzler H-U (1970b) Comparison of the echolocation behavior inRhinolophus ferrumequinum andChilonycteris rubiginosa. Bijdr Dierkd 40:77–80
Schnitzler H-U (1973) Control of Doppler shift compensation in the Greater Horseshoe Bat,Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. J Comp Physiol 82:79–92
Schnitzler H-U (1978) Die Detektion von Bewegungen durc0h Echoortung bei Feldermäusen. Verh Dtsch Zool Ges 71:pp 16–33
Schnitzler H-U, Henson OW Jr (1980) Performance of airborne animal sonar systems: I. Microchiroptera. In: Busnel RG, Fish JF (eds) Animal sonar systems. Plenum Press, New York, pp 109–181
Schnitzler H-U, Ostwald J (1983) Adaptations for the detection of fluttering insects by echolocating horseshoe bats. In: Ewert JP, Capranica RR, Ingle DJ (eds) Advances in vertebrate neuroethology. Plenum Press, New York, pp 801–827
Schnitzler H-U, Menne D, Kober R, Heblich K (in press) The acoustical image of fluttering insects in echolocating bats. In: Huber F, Markl H (eds) Neuroethology and behavioral physiology: Roots and growing points. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo
Schuller G (1972) Echoortung beiRhinolophus ferrumequinum mit frequenzmodulierten Lauten. J Comp Physiol 77:306–331
Schuller G, Beuter K, Schnitzler H-U (1974) Response to frequency shifted artificial echoes in the batRhinolophus ferrumequinum. J Comp Physiol 89:275–286
Simmons JA (1974) Response of a Doppler echolocation system in the batRhinolophus ferrumequinum. J Acoust Soc Am 56:672–682
Trappe M (1982) Verhalten und Echoortung der Grossen Hufeisennase beim Insektenfang. Dissertation, University of Tübingen, FRG
Trappe M, Schnitzler H-U (1982) Doppler shift compensation in insect-catching horseshoe bats. Naturwissenschaften 69:193–194
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schnitzler, H.U., Flieger, E. Detection of oscillating target movements by echolocation in the Greater Horseshoe bat. J. Comp. Physiol. 153, 385–391 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612592
Accepted:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612592
