Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Convergent Evolution

Convergent Evolution

Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.The structures that arise from convergent evolution are called analogous structures. They are similar in function even if they are dissimilar in structure. Further, structures can be analogous while also...

Echo

Echo

The human ear cannot distinguish between two sources of sound if they happen to reach within a specific time interval, typically 0.1 seconds apart. More than this, and they are perceived as separate sources.
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case, then the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Discovering the acoustic cue for target ranging by bats.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2026

Same author

The Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience: Studying how the brain interacts with the world.

Neuron·2026

Same author

Natural auditory behaviors invoke cognitive brain networks.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

Same author

Sparse-to-dense coding transformation between hippocampal areas CA3 and CA1.

Nature·2026

Same author

Bat eye movements resolve a long-standing question in gaze control.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Bat eye movements resolve a long-standing question in gaze control.

Current biology : CB·2026

Same journal

Modelling the behaviour of physiological processes: On the lack of a scientific basis in medical science.

Communicative & integrative biology·2026

Same journal

Can bacteria control the human brain?

Communicative & integrative biology·2026

Same journal

Quantum mechanics in drug design: Progress, challenges, and future frontiers.

Communicative & integrative biology·2025

Same journal

An experimental approach to study foraging memory in ectomycorrhizal mycelium.

Communicative & integrative biology·2025

Same journal

Consciousness and spintronic coherence in microtubules.

Communicative & integrative biology·2025

Same journal

Identification of brain-like complex information architectures in embryonic tissue of <i>Xenopus laevis</i> organoids.

Communicative & integrative biology·2025

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Tissue Collection of Bats for -Omics Analyses and Primary Cell Culture

Tissue Collection of Bats for -Omics Analyses and Primary Cell Culture

Published on: October 23, 2019

When echolocating bats do not echolocate.

Chen Chiu¹, Cynthia F Moss

¹Department of Psychology; Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program; University of Maryland; College Park, Maryland USA.

Communicative & Integrative Biology

|August 26, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) can fly without echolocation when flying with others. This silent flight suggests potential cooperative sonar use in echolocating animals.

Keywords:

bats cooperative sonar eavesdropping echolocation

More Related Videos

Standard Operating Procedure for Lyssavirus Surveillance of the Bat Population in Taiwan

Standard Operating Procedure for Lyssavirus Surveillance of the Bat Population in Taiwan

Published on: August 27, 2019

Using Insect Electroantennogram Sensors on Autonomous Robots for Olfactory Searches

Using Insect Electroantennogram Sensors on Autonomous Robots for Olfactory Searches

Published on: August 4, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Tissue Collection of Bats for -Omics Analyses and Primary Cell Culture

Tissue Collection of Bats for -Omics Analyses and Primary Cell Culture

Published on: October 23, 2019

Standard Operating Procedure for Lyssavirus Surveillance of the Bat Population in Taiwan

Standard Operating Procedure for Lyssavirus Surveillance of the Bat Population in Taiwan

Published on: August 27, 2019

Using Insect Electroantennogram Sensors on Autonomous Robots for Olfactory Searches

Using Insect Electroantennogram Sensors on Autonomous Robots for Olfactory Searches

Published on: August 4, 2014

Area of Science:

Animal Behavior
Bioacoustics
Neuroethology

Background:

Echolocating bats use high-frequency sonar for navigation and object localization.
Continuous echolocation is generally assumed for bat orientation.
Recent findings challenge this assumption, revealing silent flight capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the phenomenon of silent flight in bats.
To explore the conditions under which bats can navigate without echolocation.
To understand the implications for group navigation and sensory cooperation in bats.

Main Methods:

Observing the flight behavior of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) in a large flight room.
Monitoring echolocation activity during flight, particularly when bats flew in proximity to conspecifics.
Quantifying flight distances achieved during periods of silent behavior.

Main Results:

Big brown bats demonstrated the ability to fly significant distances (0.6 to 8 m) without emitting echolocation calls.
This silent flight occurred when bats were flying with another bat of the same species.
The findings indicate a departure from continuous echolocation behavior.

Conclusions:

Silent flight in bats is possible, particularly in social contexts.
This discovery opens avenues for studying bat group navigation and orientation.
The findings suggest the potential for cooperative sonar systems in echolocating animals.