What Is Echolocation
Have you ever thought about how certain animals find themselves in the sea or in the sky? This same question was asked by many scientists before embracing the term echolocation, which we will explain in this article.
Ecolocation: technique for interpreting the environment
Echolocation is the ability of some animals to know an environment, identify dangers and find prey.
Through the emission of sounds and the subsequent interpretation of the echo they project onto nearby objects.
This term was first used in 1938, after several studies on bats.
It is worth noting that not the entire Chiroptera family uses this mechanism. Yes, it is used by dolphins, sperm whales (both cetaceans) and some birds, such as the Swift and the Guácharo.
Boats and submarines rely on this same principle to navigate. Echolocation is easy to understand. Take the bat as an example, which has very poor eyesight and also hunts at night.
By this mechanism, he can find food and also avoid various obstacles, such as a tree or a predator.
Thanks to this location system, he will know how far he is from an object. But how does he know? Calculating the time between the emission of the signal and when it is received again.
But of course it’s much more than that, since to decode this message you need a special anatomy.
In the case of bats, their ears are positioned at a distance from each other to better understand what is happening around them.
Dolphin echolocation
The other best-known example of echolocation is that of dolphins (and sperm whales ).
In this case, it is performed through the emission of a range of sounds, which travel through the water and allow to obtain a lot of information about their surroundings.
Through sound impulses – known as clicks – of high or low frequency – a dolphin can find its prey and also reunite with others of its species.
For that, obviously, they need sensitive directional hearing and superior intelligence.
If we analyze the physiognomy of this cetacean, we can see that there is a layer of oily fat on the sides of the head and lower jaw, which allows it to receive echoes.
When the dolphin swims, it moves its skull sideways, up and down. In this way, he ‘explores’ what is around him.
And the birds?
Although the two most famous cases of echolocation are the bat and the dolphin, there are also some birds that have learned this technique to find their way around.
The swift is similar to the swallow (although not related) and was able to develop a mechanism that allows it to know where it is, even in the dark, as it sleeps in caves.
A subspecies of the same Cook Islands bird uses echolocation outside the burrow, which it leaves at night to obtain food.
The Salangana papús is a species of Swift of New Guinea, capable of using echolocation when flying outside its refuge.
In addition, it differs from other species because it does not emit single and double clicks, like its relatives of the genus Aerodramus.
Finally, the guácharo, or cave bird, is frugivorous and nocturnal, using this system to navigate in conditions of low visibility.
Along with his keen sense of smell, he can eat fruit before the sun comes up.
During the day, it protects itself in deep caves and, as soon as it wakes up, it starts up this special GPS that includes high frequency clicks , audible without problems by the human being.
