Young Bats' Vocalizations a Precursor

  

Valerie Varnuska is from the Westbury, NY community and enjoys excursions in nature in her free time. One aspect of this for Valerie Varnuska involves learning about the behavior of bats in the wild. A study published in Nature focuses on the repeated vocalizations young bats make, which help them develop the ability to make sounds they carry into adulthood.

Led by a Berlin Museum of Natural History animal behavioral ecologist, the study involved recording more than 200 “babbling bouts” by greater sac-winged bats in Panama and Costa Rica. Ultrasonic equipment was employed to catch individual syllables contained within bat pups’ high-pitched squeals. Within this babble, researchers identified a majority of the 25 syllables that adult bats use for tasks such as seeking food through echolocation and navigating airspace, as well as for courtship.

Despite significant differences in how humans use language and bats employ vocalizations, researchers linked the pups’ babble to the way human babies make “nonsense” sounds that ultimately evolve into language. Through bat pups, the researchers hope to explore the fundamental processes that inform vocal learning across species.

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