Neurobiology of echolocation in bats

Echolocating bats (sub-order: Microchiroptera) form a highly successful group of animals, comprising approximately 700 species and an estimated 25% of living mammals. Many echolocating bats are nocturnal predators that have evolved a biological sonar system to orient and forage in three-dimensional space. Acoustic signal processing and vocal-motor control are tightly coupled, and successful echolocation depends on the coordination between auditory and motor systems. Indeed, echolocation involves adaptive changes in vocal production patterns, which, in turn, constrain the acoustic information arriving at the bat's ears and the time-scales over which neural computations take place.