Echolocating Bats Emit A Highly Directional Sonar Sound Beam In The Field

Bats use echolocation to navigate and find prey at night. The width of the echolocation sound beam determines how broad an angle bats perceive.


Using multi-microphone recordings we determined for the first time beam width for a bat, Myotis daubentonii, flying in the wild. The bats emitted highly directional narrow sound beams in the wild, but significantly broader beams in the lab.


Calls were also more intense in the wild, indicating a link to the higher directionality, focusing sound energy in the forward direction. The results demonstrate that bats can adjust echolocation beam width to behavioral context.


Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences


Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.


Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences