Sound amplification by means of a horn-like roosting structure in Spix's disc-winged bat

 

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書誌詳細
著者: Chaverri Echandi, Gloriana, Gillam, Erin H.
フォーマット: artículo original
出版日付:2013
その他の書誌記述:While sound is a signal modality widely used by many animals, it is very susceptible to attenuation, hampering effective long-distance communication. A strategy to minimize sound attenuation that has been historically used by humans is to use acoustic horns; to date, no other animal is known to use a similar structure to increase sound intensity. Here, we describe how the use of a roosting structure that resembles an acoustic horn (the tapered tubes that form when new leaves of plants such as Heliconia or Calathea species start to unfurl) increases sound amplification of the incoming and outgoing social calls used by Spix's disc-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) to locate roosts and group members. Our results indicate that incoming calls are significantly amplified as a result of sound waves being increasingly compressed as they move into the narrow end of the leaf. Outgoing calls were faintly amplified, probably as a result of increased sound directionality. Both types of call, however, experienced significant sound distortion, which might explain the patterns of signal recognition previously observed in behavioural experiments. Our study provides the first evidence of the potential role that a roost can play in facilitating acoustic communication in bats.
国:Kérwá
機関:Universidad de Costa Rica
Repositorio:Kérwá
OAI Identifier:oai:kerwa.ucr.ac.cr:10669/74925
オンライン・アクセス:http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1772/20132362
https://hdl.handle.net/10669/74925
キーワード:Acoustic horn
Disc-winged bat
Roost
Social call
Waveguide
599.4 Chiroptera (Quirópteros, Murciélagos)