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The acoustic behavior of four species of vespertilionid bats studied in the field

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Summary

The acoustic behavior of four species of Vespertilionid bats flying in the field was studied using high speed tape recorders and ultrasonic detectors. The bats can be identified solely on the basis of their cries when using a ‘divide-by-ten’ detector. Three species (Eptesicus serotinus, Nyctalus noctula, andPipistrellus pipistrellus) show considerable flexibility in their acoustic behavior, whileMyotis daubentoni has a stereotyped acoustic behavior under our study conditions. Several aspects of the cry repertoire can be correlated with the bats' activities and acoustic environment. During aerial chases and when circling the roost,E. serotinus, N. noctula andP. pipistrellus emit ultrasound that is distinctly different from their orientational cries. Such ultrasound may have a social function.

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Abbreviations

FM :

frequency modulation

CF :

constant frequency

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biologisk Institut, Odense Universitet, Campusvej 55, DK-5230, Odense M, Denmark

    Lee A. Miller & Hans Jørgen Degn

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  1. Lee A. Miller
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  2. Hans Jørgen Degn
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Additional information

We wish to acknowledge support from the Danish Natural Science Research Council. We extend our thanks to the estate owners for their kind cooperation. The sound spectrograms in Fig. 6 were kindly provided by Ingemar Ahlén, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. We thank Axel Michelsen, James A. Simmons, and Bertel Møhl for comments on the manuscript.

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Miller, L.A., Degn, H.J. The acoustic behavior of four species of vespertilionid bats studied in the field. J. Comp. Physiol. 142, 67–74 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605477

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605477

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