Communication breakdown: Limits of spectro-temporal resolution for the perception of bat communication calls.

ABSTRACT: During vocal communication, the spectro-temporal structure of vocalizations conveys important contextual information. Bats excel in the use of sounds for echolocation by meticulous encoding of signals in the temporal domain. We therefore hypothesized that for social communication as well, bats would excel at detecting minute distortions in the spectro-temporal structure of calls. To test this hypothesis, we systematically introduced spectro-temporal distortion to communication calls of Phyllostomus discolor bats. We broke down each call into windows of the same length and randomized the phase spectrum inside each window. The overall degree of spectro-temporal distortion in communication calls increased with window length. Modelling the bat auditory periphery revealed that cochlear mechanis

SUBMITTER: Horpel SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8249457 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature