Flying bats use serial sampling to locate odour sources
Abstract
Olfactory tracking generally sacrifices speed for sensitivity, but some fast-moving animals appear surprisingly efficient at foraging by smell. Here, we analysed the olfactory tracking strategies of flying bats foraging for fruit. Fruit- and nectar-feeding bats use odour cues to find food despite the sensory challenges derived from fast flight speeds and echolocation. We trained Jamaican fruit-eating bats (Artibeus jamaicensis) to locate an odour reward and reconstructed their flight paths in three-dimensional space. Results confirmed that bats relied upon olfactory cues to locate a reward. Flight paths revealed a combination of odour- and memory-guided search strategies. During ‘inspection flights’, bats significantly reduced flight speeds and flew within approximately 6 cm of possible targets to evaluate the presence or absence of the odour cue. This behaviour combined with echolocation explains how bats maximize foraging efficiency while compensating for trade-offs associated with olfactory detection and locomotion.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0430
Entities
People
- Alyson F Brokaw
- Evynn Davis
- Michael Smotherman
- Rachel Page
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University
- National Science Foundation Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Office of Naval Research
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute