Ears tuned to water

(PhysOrg.com) -- For bats any smooth, horizontal surface is water. Even so if vision, olfaction or touch tells them it is actually a metal, plastic or wooden plate. Bats therefore rely more on their ears than on any other sensory system. This is due to how smooth surfaces reflect the echolocation calls of bats: they act just like mirrors. In nature there are no other extended, smooth surfaces, so these mirror properties prove to be a reliable feature for recognition of water surfaces.

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