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Early milestones in the understanding of echolocation in bats

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Abstract

Almost 80 years ago, Griffin and Galambos discovered the phenomenon of echolocation in bats. Since then, the field has grown exponentially as new generations of investigators have joined the chase and technological advances have revolutionized working with ultrasound in the laboratory and in the field. Today our understanding of the diversity of behavioral and neural adaptations for echolocation constitutes one of the paramount triumphs of neuroethology. At the invitation of the editor in chief, I here review some of the important milestones in the discovery and early understanding of echolocation in bats through about the mid-1980s.

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Fig. 1
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with permission of the Acoustical Society of America) (Photos by Brock Fenton)

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(modified from Schnitzler and Henson 1980, after Webster and Durlach 1963)

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(modified from Schnitzler 1968). (Photo: Brock Fenton)

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  1. Department of Physiology, Center for the Health Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, Room 53-232, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Alan D. Grinnell

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Grinnell, A.D. Early milestones in the understanding of echolocation in bats. J Comp Physiol A 204, 519–536 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-018-1263-3

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