Flexible control of vocal timing in Carollia perspicillata bats enables escape from acoustic interference

• Published in: Communications biology Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 1153
• Main Authors: Kiai, Ava, Clemens, Jan, Kössl, Manfred, Poeppel, David, Hechavarría, Julio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 13.11.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/158/856; 631/601/18; Acoustics; Automation; Biology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carollia perspicillata; Echolocation; Life Sciences; Navigation behavior; Playback; Vocalization behavior
• ISSN: 2399-3642; 2399-3642
• DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05507-5

In natural environments, background noise can degrade the integrity of acoustic signals, posing a problem for animals that rely on their vocalizations for communication and navigation. A simple behavioral strategy to combat acoustic interference would be to restrict call emissions to periods of low-amplitude or no noise. Using audio playback and computational tools for the automated detection of over 2.5 million vocalizations from groups of freely vocalizing bats, we show that bats ( Carollia perspicillata ) can dynamically adapt the timing of their calls to avoid acoustic jamming in both predictably and unpredictably patterned noise. This study demonstrates that bats spontaneously seek out temporal windows of opportunity for vocalizing in acoustically crowded environments, providing a mechanism for efficient echolocation and communication in cluttered acoustic landscapes. Automated detection of over 2.5 million vocalizations of freely vocalizing Carollia perspicillata reveals that these bats seek to avoid acoustic jamming from background noise by dynamically adjusting their vocalization timing.