Complexity Digest 2004.24 - 04

14-Jun-2004

Animal Behavior: Eavesdropping On Bats, Nature Bookmark and Share

Excerpts: Two investigations into bat echolocation provide striking examples of the sophistication and the possible evolutionary and ecological consequences of variability in call design.(...)

Today, we know that there is variation between bat species in the design of echolocation calls, which often coincides with differences in their behaviour and ecology.(...)

They showed how echolocation signals can diverge within a species and how this divergence might promote sympatric speciation - the division of one species into two or more without a geographical barrier. This is a hot and contentious topic in evolutionary biology.