Behavioral Studies of Auditory Information Processing

Echolocating bats are nocturnal animals that rely largely on auditory information to orient in the environment and intercept prey. Bats produce high-frequency vocal signals and perceive their surroundings by listening to the features of the echoes reflecting off targets in the path of the sound beam (Griffin 1958). Computations performed on these echoes by the auditory system allow the bat to extract fine spatial information about its world through acoustic channels. This chapter attempts a comprehensive review and synthesis of data on auditory information processing and perception by sonar in echolocating bats.