Learn about bats' roosting, flying, and dietary habits and their echolocation sense
Learn about bats' roosting, flying, and dietary habits and their echolocation sense
Bats rely on a unique form of sensory reception, called echolocation, to locate objects and to hunt and capture prey.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Bats rely on a unique form of sensory reception, called echolocation, to locate objects and to hunt and capture prey.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Two jawfish (family Opistognathidae) engaging in a territorial dispute.
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© World Science Festival (A Britannica Publishing Partner)How forest primates communicate specific dangers in ways that even birds understand.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about the tactic a queen triggerfish (Balistes vetula) uses to prey upon a sea urchin.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Migration of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) from their breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska to their wintering grounds in the southern United States.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Ray-finned fishes are found in freshwater and saltwater habitats around the world and have evolved a wide variety of body plans.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.A puffer (family Tetraodontidae) swimming in its inflated and normal states.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Some fishes have adapted unusual structures and behaviours to catch prey and to avoid becoming prey.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzTwo red deer (Cervus elaphus) battling for dominance during the rutting season.
Transcript
NARRATOR: Bats generally live in groups or colonies, roosting during the day in isolated places such as dark caves, cliff crevices, and abandoned buildings. It is at night that bats leave their roosts to forage. Most bats feed on insects, chasing down and capturing large quantities of their prey in flight. Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly.
Most species of bats possess the ability to orient acoustically by echolocation. They emit short high-frequency sound pulses that are reflected from objects in vicinity. The returning echoes are picked up by the bats' highly sensitive ears and are used to locate prey and avoid obstacles in the dark.
Most species of bats possess the ability to orient acoustically by echolocation. They emit short high-frequency sound pulses that are reflected from objects in vicinity. The returning echoes are picked up by the bats' highly sensitive ears and are used to locate prey and avoid obstacles in the dark.