All articles tagged with #echolocation
The sperm whale has the largest brain by average weight (about 7.8 kg), far surpassing humans, and its enormous head contains the spermaceti organ, which supports buoyancy and a sophisticated acoustic system for navigating and bonding in a complex three-dimensional environment.
Greater Japanese horseshoe bats living in colonies gradually converge their echolocation call frequencies to a shared range, creating a 'silent spectral window' that reduces interference and improves prey detection. Lower-frequency bats shift upward more than higher-frequency bats, and adjustments occur mainly when there are noticeable differences between individuals.
Durham University researchers show that both blind and sighted adults can learn echolocation through verbal clicks in 10 weeks, with brain scans revealing functional and structural changes in the primary visual and auditory cortices (V1 and A1), indicating flexible, cross-modal brain plasticity beyond visual impairment.
New studies show that both blind and sighted adults can learn click-based echolocation after 10 weeks of training, with brain scans revealing functional and structural changes in the primary visual (V1) and auditory (A1) cortices. The findings indicate adult brain plasticity for sensory repurposing beyond vision, suggesting the brain can adapt to process echoes; related animal research hints at species-specific neural adaptations in echolocation.
New York City’s bats have found a surprising foothold in urban green spaces like the High Line and Prospect Park, with researchers tracking their echolocation as several species adapt to city life; the work underscores bats’ role in pest control and highlights the broader, often unseen, wildlife thriving among NYC’s parks and streets.
Rare footage from Shark Bay shows bottlenose dolphins using sea sponges as protective tools on their snouts to hunt along the seafloor. The behavior alters echolocation and is transmitted from mothers to offspring; only about 5% of the population uses it, and calves typically learn it over 3–4 years. Sponge shape changes the acoustic beam, affecting hunting efficiency, with cone-shaped sponges guiding clicks more narrowly than basket-like sponges. The study, led by Ellen Rose Jacobs of Aarhus University and the Shark Bay Dolphin Research Project, highlights cultural transmission and the costs of tool use in a changing ocean, and was published in Royal Society Open Science.
An EEG study comparing expert echolocators to sighted participants shows that returning echoes help the brain build a spatial map of the surroundings, with the best performance from individuals who were blind from an early age. Echo-based perception improves over successive clicks, engaging both auditory and visual brain pathways and illustrating brain plasticity when vision is absent.
Nighttime bats circling yards indicate abundant insects and provide natural pest control through echolocation; urban bats help reduce crop damage and pesticide use, with Brazilian studies citing about $390–$391 million in annual savings, while rabies risk remains under 1% and bat houses support conservation.
A 10‑week program trained 12 blind and 14 sighted adults in echolocation techniques, with neuroimaging showing increased activity in the primary visual and auditory cortices. The study demonstrates that the adult brain can rewire to interpret echoes for spatial awareness, with experts achieving centimeter‑level precision, suggesting echolocation training could become a mainstream tool for vision impairment.
Scientists at the Weizmann Institute discovered that mice use their whiskers to produce ultrasonic sounds for echolocation, allowing them to navigate and identify objects in complete darkness, revealing a sophisticated biological sonar system that could inspire new human technologies.
Researchers have discovered a new prehistoric dolphin species, Romaleodelphis pollerspoecki, from 22 million years ago in present-day Austria. This species, identified from a fossil skull, shows early evidence of echolocation abilities similar to modern dolphins. The discovery provides insights into the evolution of toothed whales and their auditory capabilities. The study, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, highlights the dolphin's advanced hearing, which may have aided in communication and predator evasion.
Israeli scientists at Tel Aviv University have discovered that Kuhl's pipistrelle microbats can navigate long distances using echolocation to create acoustic maps, even when blindfolded. This challenges the previous assumption that bats' sonar skills were limited to short-distance hunting. The study involved blindfolding the bats and isolating them from other sensory inputs, demonstrating their ability to find their way home using sonar-based navigation.
The US Navy conducted a study by attaching cameras to dolphins, revealing fascinating insights into their hunting strategies and communication. The footage showed dolphins using echolocation and vision to hunt various fish and even venomous sea snakes, employing techniques like suction feeding. This research, published in PLOS ONE, provides a deeper understanding of dolphin behavior and highlights the innovative work of the late Sam Ridgway, who contributed significantly to marine mammal science.
A study on Xenorophus, an extinct whale ancestor, sheds light on the early evolution of echolocation in toothed whales and dolphins. Researchers analyzed fossils from the Xenorophidae family and found similarities in the structures of their jaws and blowholes to modern echolocating whales and dolphins. The study suggests that Xenorophus represents a key transition point in the evolution of echolocation, despite having less pronounced asymmetry near the blowhole. The researchers emphasize the importance of investigating asymmetry in fossils and its role in adapting to different environments.
A study analyzing fossils of ancient dolphins provides new insights into the evolution of echolocation in toothed whales and dolphins. The research suggests that a species called Xenorophus, which lived 25-30 million years ago, had asymmetry around the blowhole and a distinct twisting and shifting of the snout, enhancing its directional hearing abilities. This bending of the snout and tilting of fat bodies in the lower jaws may have been similar to the asymmetrical ears of owls, allowing Xenorophus to determine the location of sounds. The findings highlight the importance of asymmetry in understanding how whales and dolphins evolved their echolocation abilities.