Bats without borders: Predators learn novel prey cues from other predatory species

Area of Science:

• Animal Behavior
• Ecology
• Bioacoustics

Background:

• Social learning aids adaptation to environmental changes.
• Heterospecifics can serve as learning models when conspecifics are scarce or uninformed.
• Bats use acoustic cues for foraging, making social learning via sound plausible.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if Trachops cirrhosus bats can learn novel prey acoustic cues from heterospecifics (Lophostoma silvicolum).
• To compare the social learning rates of T. cirrhosus from conspecifics versus heterospecifics.
• To determine if social facilitation plays a role in this interspecies learning.

Main Methods:

• Naïve Trachops cirrhosus were exposed to an unfamiliar tone.
• Learning rates were compared between bats learning from trained conspecifics and those learning from Lophostoma silvicolum.
• Trial-and-error and social facilitation learning mechanisms were assessed.

Main Results:

• Trachops cirrhosus learned the novel acoustic cue from Lophostoma silvicolum as rapidly as from conspecifics.
• This study provides the first evidence of social learning of a novel acoustic cue in bats.
• Interspecific social learning of foraging cues is demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• Heterospecific social learning of acoustic cues occurs in bats.
• Auditory-based social learning may be a significant mechanism for bats to acquire information about novel prey.
• This learning facilitates adaptation and potentially aids in the adaptive radiation of bats.