ECHOLOCATION BEHAVIOR IN BATS

Bats represent a very successful group of mammals. They gained access to the enormously rich resources of nocturnal aerial life by combining the ability of active flight with the ability to orient in complete darkness. This orientation mechanism is based on echolocation. Research on the principles of bat echolocation has revealed insight in a strange sensory world where light is replaced by sound pulses. However, the animal is still able to manage extremely difficult behavioural tasks with amazingly high accuracy. Many specializations that are found in the bat's auditory and vocalization system, respectively, provide excellent model systems for a neuroscientific approach to understand basic aspects of human hearing and the fundamental mechanisms of speech control.