Variation in Search-Phase Calls of Bats
Murray K, Britzke E, Robbins L. 2001. Variation in Search-Phase Calls of Bats. Journal of Mammalogy. 82(3):728-737
Although echolocation calls of most bats exhibit species-specific characteristics, intraspecific variation can obscure differences among species and make reliable acoustics identification difficult. We examined levels of intraspecific variation in search-phase calls of 7species of vespertilionid bats from several locations in the eastern and central United States. Echolocation calls were recorded form light-tagged bats using the Anabat II detector and associated software. Analook software was used to calculate values for 5 parmeters of calls: duration, maximum frequency, minimum frequency, frequency of the body, and slope of the body. Analysis of our results indicates that most intraspecific variability in calls was attributed to differences among individuals and within individual call sequencing. Observed levels of geographic variation, although significant in all species examined, were comparitively small and showed no trends among areas. We included a preliminary description of variability in echolocation calls of Nyticeius humeralis and Myotis lebii.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Murray, K; Britzke, E; Robbins, L
- Units
- ARD
- Keywords
- Anabat, Analook, Bats, Bioacoustics, Echolocation, Geographic Variation, intraspecific variation, Mammals, Myotis, SOUNDBIB, Vespertilionidae