Little Brown Bat echolocation variation, Yellowstone National Park
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Common Name: Little Brown Bat
Scientific Name: Myotis lucifugus
Creator: Treanor, John
Description: Examples of the type of variation in echolocation calls of little brown bats.
Notes: Bats are able to vary the duration, cadence, and frequency range of their echolocation calls to meet their information needs. Echolocation calls of short duration that sweep across a broad frequency range provide more detailed information at short distances. This is important for insectivorous bats that track aerial insects in cluttered environments. Under these conditions, the duration of the call and the interval between calls decreases to reduce the overlap between the outgoing call and returning echo. In open habitat, longer calls over a narrow frequency range are more effective for tracking prey at greater distances. This clip begins with calls typical of bats foraging in cluttered environments followed by another recording of calls typical of bats foraging in open environments. The spectrograms show the sequence of echolocation calls recorded from little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) in different habitats demonstrating differences in frequency range (bandwidth) and interval between calls (cadence). Learn more about bats and bat monitoring in Yellowstone National Park.
Location: Yellowstone National Park
Duration: 00:00:26
Acknowledgments: Jennifer Jerrett (post-production). Shared via a collaborative project with the Yellowstone National Park Sound Library.
Audio Rights: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Image Rights: Spectrogram of Little Brown Bat
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