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Sun C, Hassin Y, Boonman A, Shwartz A, Yovel Y. Species and habitat specific changes in bird activity in an urban environment during Covid 19 lockdown. eLife 2024; 12:RP88064. [PMID: 38335247 PMCID: PMC10942578 DOI: 10.7554/elife.88064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Covid-19 lockdowns provided ecologists with a rare opportunity to examine how animals behave when humans are absent. Indeed many studies reported various effects of lockdowns on animal activity, especially in urban areas and other human-dominated habitats. We explored how Covid-19 lockdowns in Israel have influenced bird activity in an urban environment by using continuous acoustic recordings to monitor three common bird species that differ in their level of adaptation to the urban ecosystem: (1) the hooded crow, an urban exploiter, which depends heavily on anthropogenic resources; (2) the rose-ringed parakeet, an invasive alien species that has adapted to exploit human resources; and (3) the graceful prinia, an urban adapter, which is relatively shy of humans and can be found in urban habitats with shrubs and prairies. Acoustic recordings provided continuous monitoring of bird activity without an effect of the observer on the animal. We performed dense sampling of a 1.3 square km area in northern Tel-Aviv by placing 17 recorders for more than a month in different micro-habitats within this region including roads, residential areas and urban parks. We monitored both lockdown and no-lockdown periods. We portray a complex dynamic system where the activity of specific bird species depended on many environmental parameters and decreases or increases in a habitat-dependent manner during lockdown. Specifically, urban exploiter species decreased their activity in most urban habitats during lockdown, while human adapter species increased their activity during lockdown especially in parks where humans were absent. Our results also demonstrate the value of different habitats within urban environments for animal activity, specifically highlighting the importance of urban parks. These species- and habitat-specific changes in activity might explain the contradicting results reported by others who have not performed a habitat specific analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Congnan Sun
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
- College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal UniversityShijiazhuangChina
- Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-Environment, Hebei Normal UniversityShijiazhuangChina
| | - Yoel Hassin
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
| | - Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
| | - Assaf Shwartz
- Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion, Israel Institute of TechnologyHaifaIsrael
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
- The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, National Research Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel-Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
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Taub M, Goldshtein A, Boonman A, Eitan O, Hurme E, Greif S, Yovel Y. What determines the information update rate in echolocating bats. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1187. [PMID: 37989853 PMCID: PMC10663583 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05563-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The rate of sensory update is one of the most important parameters of any sensory system. The acquisition rate of most sensory systems is fixed and has been optimized by evolution to the needs of the animal. Echolocating bats have the ability to adjust their sensory update rate which is determined by the intervals between emissions - the inter-pulse intervals (IPI). The IPI is routinely adjusted, but the exact factors driving its regulation are unknown. We use on-board audio recordings to determine how four species of echolocating bats with different foraging strategies regulate their sensory update rate during commute flights. We reveal strong correlations between the IPI and various echolocation and movement parameters. Specifically, the update rate increases when the signals' peak-energy frequency and intensity increases while the update rate decreases when flight speed and altitude increases. We suggest that bats control their information update rate according to the behavioral mode they are engaged in, while always maintaining sensory continuity. Specifically, we suggest that bats apply two modes of attention during commute flights. Our data moreover suggests that bats emit echolocation signals at accurate intervals without the need for external feedback.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mor Taub
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel
| | - Aya Goldshtein
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, Konstanz, 78464, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel
| | - Ofri Eitan
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel
| | - Edward Hurme
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Stefan Greif
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel.
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel.
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Tarnovsky YC, Taiber S, Nissan Y, Boonman A, Assaf Y, Wilkinson GS, Avraham KB, Yovel Y. Bats experience age-related hearing loss (presbycusis). Life Sci Alliance 2023; 6:e202201847. [PMID: 36997281 PMCID: PMC10067528 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202201847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Hearing loss is a hallmark of aging, typically initially affecting the higher frequencies. In echolocating bats, the ability to discern high frequencies is essential. However, nothing is known about age-related hearing loss in bats, and they are often assumed to be immune to it. We tested the hearing of 47 wild Egyptian fruit bats by recording their auditory brainstem response and cochlear microphonics, and we also assessed the cochlear histology in four of these bats. We used the bats' DNA methylation profile to evaluate their age and found that bats exhibit age-related hearing loss, with more prominent deterioration at the higher frequencies. The rate of the deterioration was ∼1 dB per year, comparable to the hearing loss observed in humans. Assessing the noise in the fruit bat roost revealed that these bats are exposed to continuous immense noise-mostly of social vocalizations-supporting the assumption that bats might be partially resistant to loud noise. Thus, in contrast to previous assumptions, our results suggest that bats constitute a model animal for the study of age-related hearing loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifat Chaya Tarnovsky
- School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Shahar Taiber
- School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yomiran Nissan
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yaniv Assaf
- School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | | | - Karen B Avraham
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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4
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Khait I, Lewin-Epstein O, Sharon R, Saban K, Goldstein R, Anikster Y, Zeron Y, Agassy C, Nizan S, Sharabi G, Perelman R, Boonman A, Sade N, Yovel Y, Hadany L. Sounds emitted by plants under stress are airborne and informative. Cell 2023; 186:1328-1336.e10. [PMID: 37001499 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/01/2023]
Abstract
Stressed plants show altered phenotypes, including changes in color, smell, and shape. Yet, airborne sounds emitted by stressed plants have not been investigated before. Here we show that stressed plants emit airborne sounds that can be recorded from a distance and classified. We recorded ultrasonic sounds emitted by tomato and tobacco plants inside an acoustic chamber, and in a greenhouse, while monitoring the plant's physiological parameters. We developed machine learning models that succeeded in identifying the condition of the plants, including dehydration level and injury, based solely on the emitted sounds. These informative sounds may also be detectable by other organisms. This work opens avenues for understanding plants and their interactions with the environment and may have significant impact on agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Itzhak Khait
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Ohad Lewin-Epstein
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Raz Sharon
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel; School of Mathematical Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Kfir Saban
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Revital Goldstein
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Yehuda Anikster
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Yarden Zeron
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Chen Agassy
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Shaked Nizan
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Gayl Sharabi
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Ran Perelman
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Nir Sade
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel; The Institute of Cereal Crop Improvement, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Lilach Hadany
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
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Eitan O, Taub M, Boonman A, Zviran A, Tourbabin V, Weiss AJ, Yovel Y. Echolocating bats rapidly adjust their mouth gape to control spatial acquisition when scanning a target. BMC Biol 2022; 20:282. [PMID: 36527053 PMCID: PMC9758934 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-022-01487-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND As well known to any photographer, controlling the "field of view" offers an extremely powerful mechanism by which to adjust target acquisition. Only a few natural sensory systems can actively control their field of view (e.g., dolphins, whales, and bats). Bats are known for their active sensing abilities and modify their echolocation signals by actively controlling their spectral and temporal characteristics. Less is known about bats' ability to actively modify their bio-sonar field of view. RESULTS We show that Pipistrellus kuhlii bats rapidly narrow their sensory field of view (i.e., their bio-sonar beam) when scanning a target. On-target vertical sonar beams were twofold narrower than off-target beams. Continuous measurements of the mouth gape of free-flying bats revealed that they control their bio-sonar beam by a ~3.6 mm widening of their mouth gape: namely, bats open their mouth to narrow the beam and vice versa. CONCLUSIONS Bats actively and rapidly control their echolocation vertical beam width by modifying their mouth gape. We hypothesize that narrowing their vertical beam narrows the zone of ensonification when estimating the elevation of a target. In other words, bats open their mouth to improve sensory localization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ofri Eitan
- grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Mor Taub
- grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Arjan Boonman
- grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Amir Zviran
- grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel ,grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546The School of Electrical Engineering, the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Vladimir Tourbabin
- grid.7489.20000 0004 1937 0511Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Anthony J. Weiss
- grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546The School of Electrical Engineering, the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel ,grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel ,grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546School of Mechanical Engineering, the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel ,grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, National Research Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Parikh R, Sorek E, Parikh S, Michael K, Bikovski L, Tshori S, Shefer G, Mingelgreen S, Zornitzki T, Knobler H, Chodick G, Mardamshina M, Boonman A, Kronfeld-Schor N, Bar-Joseph H, Ben-Yosef D, Amir H, Pavlovsky M, Matz H, Ben-Dov T, Golan T, Nizri E, Liber D, Liel Y, Brenner R, Gepner Y, Karnieli-Miller O, Hemi R, Shalgi R, Kimchi T, Percik R, Weller A, Levy C. Skin exposure to UVB light induces a skin-brain-gonad axis and sexual behavior. Cell Rep 2021; 36:109579. [PMID: 34433056 PMCID: PMC8411113 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2020] [Revised: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Ultraviolet (UV) light affects endocrinological and behavioral aspects of sexuality via an unknown mechanism. Here we discover that ultraviolet B (UVB) exposure enhances the levels of sex-steroid hormones and sexual behavior, which are mediated by the skin. In female mice, UVB exposure increases hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis hormone levels, resulting in larger ovaries; extends estrus days; and increases anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) expression. UVB exposure also enhances the sexual responsiveness and attractiveness of females and male-female interactions. Conditional knockout of p53 specifically in skin keratinocytes abolishes the effects of UVB. Thus, UVB triggers a skin-brain-gonadal axis through skin p53 activation. In humans, solar exposure enhances romantic passion in both genders and aggressiveness in men, as seen in analysis of individual questionaries, and positively correlates with testosterone level. Our findings suggest opportunities for treatment of sex-steroid-related dysfunctions. UVB exposure increases circulating sex-steroid levels in mice and humans UVB exposure enhances female attractiveness and receptiveness toward males UVB exposure increases females’ estrus phase, HPG axis hormones, and follicle growth Skin p53 regulates UVB-induced sexual behavior and ovarian physiological changes
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Affiliation(s)
- Roma Parikh
- Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Eschar Sorek
- Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Shivang Parikh
- Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Keren Michael
- Department of Human Services, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley Academic College, Jezreel Valley 1930600, Israel
| | - Lior Bikovski
- The Myers Neuro-Behavioral Core Facility, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel; School of Behavioral Sciences, Netanya Academic College, Netanya 4223587, Israel
| | - Sagi Tshori
- Research Authority, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Galit Shefer
- Research Authority, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel
| | | | - Taiba Zornitzki
- Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease Institute, Kaplan Medical Center, Hadassah School of Medicine, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Hilla Knobler
- Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease Institute, Kaplan Medical Center, Hadassah School of Medicine, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Gabriel Chodick
- Maccabitech, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, Israel; Institute of Endocrinology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel
| | - Mariya Mardamshina
- Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Noga Kronfeld-Schor
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Hadas Bar-Joseph
- The TMCR Unit, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Dalit Ben-Yosef
- IVF Lab & Wolfe PGD-Stem Cell Lab, Fertility Institute, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel; Department of Cell Biology and Development, Sackler Faculty of Medicine & Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Hadar Amir
- Fertility Institute, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Mor Pavlovsky
- Department of Dermatology, Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center, Tel Aviv 6423906, Israel
| | - Hagit Matz
- Department of Dermatology, Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center, Tel Aviv 6423906, Israel; Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Tom Ben-Dov
- Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel; Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck surgery, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba 4428164, Israel
| | - Tamar Golan
- Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Eran Nizri
- Department of Dermatology, Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center, Tel Aviv 6423906, Israel; Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Daphna Liber
- Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Ono Academic College, Kiryat Ono, Israel
| | - Yair Liel
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Ronen Brenner
- Institute of Pathology, E. Wolfson Medical Center, Holon 58100, Israel
| | - Yftach Gepner
- School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Sylvan Adams Sports Institute, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Orit Karnieli-Miller
- Department of Medical Education, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Rina Hemi
- Institute of Endocrinology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel
| | - Ruth Shalgi
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Tali Kimchi
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Ruth Percik
- Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel; Institute of Endocrinology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel
| | - Aron Weller
- Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Carmit Levy
- Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
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Krivoruchko K, Goldshtein A, Boonman A, Eitan O, Ben-Simon J, Thong VD, Yovel Y. Fireflies produce ultrasonic clicks during flight as a potential aposematic anti-bat signal. iScience 2021; 24:102194. [PMID: 33733061 PMCID: PMC7937554 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Revised: 11/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Fireflies are known for emitting light signals for intraspecific communication. However, in doing so, they reveal themselves to many potential nocturnal predators from a large distance. Therefore, many fireflies evolved unpalatable compounds and probably use their light signals as anti-predator aposematic signals. Fireflies are occasionally attacked by predators despite their warning flashes. Bats are among the most substantial potential firefly predators. Using their echolocation, bats might detect a firefly from a short distance and attack it in between two flashes. We thus aimed to examine whether fireflies use additional measures of warning, specifically focusing on sound signals. We recorded four species from different genera of fireflies in Vietnam and Israel and found that all of them generated ultrasonic clicks centered around bats' hearing range. Clicks were synchronized with the wingbeat and are probably produced by the wings. We hypothesize that ultrasonic clicks can serve as part of a multimodal aposematic display.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ksenia Krivoruchko
- Department of Neuroscience, Rappaport Research Institute and Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | - Aya Goldshtein
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Ofri Eitan
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Jonathan Ben-Simon
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Vu Dinh Thong
- Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, VAST, Cầu Giấy, Hà Nội, Vietnam
- Graduate University of Science and Technology, VAST, Cầu Giấy, Hà Nội, Vietnam
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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8
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Boonman A, Rieger I, Amichai E, Greif S, Eitan O, Goldshtein A, Yovel Y. Echolocating bats can adjust sensory acquisition based on internal cues. BMC Biol 2020; 18:166. [PMID: 33167988 PMCID: PMC7654590 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-020-00904-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Sensory systems acquire both external and internal information to guide behavior. Adjustments based on external input are much better documented and understood than internal-based sensory adaptations. When external input is not available, idiothetic—internal—cues become crucial for guiding behavior. Here, we take advantage of the rapid sensory adjustments exhibited by bats in order to study how animals rely on internal cues in the absence of external input. Constant frequency echolocating bats are renowned for their Doppler shift compensation response used to adjust their emission frequency in order to optimize sensing. Previous studies documented the importance of external echoes for this response. Results We show that the Doppler compensation system works even without external feedback. Bats experiencing accelerations in an echo-free environment exhibited an intact compensation response. Moreover, using on-board GPS tags on free-flying bats in the wild, we demonstrate that the ability to perform Doppler shift compensation response based on internal cues might be essential in real-life when echo feedback is not available. Conclusions We thus show an ecological need for using internal cues as well as an ability to do so. Our results illustrate the robustness of one particular sensory behavior; however, we suggest this ability to rely on different streams of information (i.e., internal or external) is probably relevant for many sensory behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Itai Rieger
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Eran Amichai
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel. .,Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society Graduate Program, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA.
| | - Stefan Greif
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Ofri Eitan
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Aya Goldshtein
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel. .,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel. .,School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel.
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9
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Currie SE, Boonman A, Troxell S, Yovel Y, Voigt CC. Echolocation at high intensity imposes metabolic costs on flying bats. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 4:1174-1177. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1249-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Abstract
Animal flight noise can serve as an inspiration to engineering solutions to wind-noise problems in planes or wind turbines. Here we investigate the acoustics of wingbeats in birds and bats by co-registering wing-movement in natural flight with acoustic noise. To understand the relationships between wing movement and acoustics, we conducted additional acoustic measurements of single moving wings and other moving surfaces with accurately tracked motion paths. We found a correlation between wing-surface area and the sound pressure level of wingbeats; with bats tending to produce lower levels than birds. Measuring moving wings in isolation showed that a downstroke toward a microphone causes negative sound pressure that flips back into positive pressure at the reversal to the upstroke. The flip back to positive pressure is unrelated to the action of the upstroke, but occurs when the downward motion is halted. If the microphone is positioned above the downward wingbeat, then sound pressure instead quickly rises during the downward motion of the wing. The phase pattern of the impulse created by the wingbeat varies systematically with recording-angle. The curvature of the wing appears to be a determinant of the average frequency of the acoustic impulse. Our findings can be used to predict the acoustics of smaller flying animals where repetition pitch of similar underlying impulses, repeated at much higher wingbeat-rates become dominant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Ofri Eitan
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
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11
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Veits M, Khait I, Boonman A, Sharabi G, Sapir Y, Yovel Y, Hadany L. Increased sugar concentration in response to a wide range of pollinator sounds can be adaptive for the plant: answer to Raguso et al. Ecol Lett 2020; 23:1553-1554. [PMID: 32578343 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Revised: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/07/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
In Veits et al., we showed that flowers respond to a range of pollinator sounds by increased nectar sugar concentration. Here we clarify that (1) our argument is relevant to most pollinators, and not limited to bees (2) specifically, bees do access Oenothera Drumondii nectar in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marine Veits
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Itzhak Khait
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Gayl Sharabi
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yuval Sapir
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Lilach Hadany
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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12
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Boonman A, Fenton B, Yovel Y. The benefits of insect-swarm hunting to echolocating bats, and its influence on the evolution of bat echolocation signals. PLoS Comput Biol 2019; 15:e1006873. [PMID: 31830029 PMCID: PMC6907744 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Predation on swarms of prey, especially using visual information, has drawn much interest in studies of collective movement. Surprisingly, in the field of biosonar this aspect of prey detection, which is probably very common, has received little to no attention. Here, we combine computer simulations and actual echo measurements to accurately estimate the echo sound pressure of insect swarms of different size and density. We show that swarm echo sound pressure increases with 3dB for every doubling of insect number, irrespective of swarm density. Thus swarms will be much easier to detect than single insects. Many of the insects bats eat are so small that they are only detectable by echolocation at very short distances. By focusing on detection of swarms of insects, a bat may increase its operating range and diversify its diet. Interestingly, interference between the sound waves reflected from a swarm of insects can sometimes result in echoes that are much weaker than echoes from single insects. We show that bats can reduce this problem by increasing the bandwidth of their echolocation calls. Specifically, a bandwidth of 3–8 kHz would guarantee receiving loud echoes from any angle relative to the swarm. Indeed, many bat species, and specifically bats hunting in open spaces, where swarms are abundant, use echolocation signals with a bandwidth of several kHz. Our results might also explain how the first echolocating bats that probably had limited echolocation abilities, could detect insects through swarm hunting. When bats hunt, they often encounter insects that fly in swarms. Echolocating bats emit sonar signals to search for prey and it is currently unknown what such swarms look like to a bat. Unlike vision, sonar senses the delay or distance to objects directly. We show that when bats hunt for insects in the sky, the echoes from the insects in a swarm will most of the time sum up and therefore become much louder than the echo of a single insect. Every time an insect swarm would double in number, a bat would hear an echo that is 3dB stronger. This could enable a bat to detect prey from longer distances and some bats might thus profit from swarm hunting. However, the echoes reflected from the many insects in the swarm also create acoustic interference so that sometimes the summed echo is actually weak at a certain frequency. We show how bats could deal with this drawback. It is known that most bats do not use sonar signals with a single tone but that they modulate their tones. Our analysis shows that this modulation can solve the problem of spectral interference ensuring that the swarm-echo is always loud.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
- * E-mail:
| | - Brock Fenton
- Dpt of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Israel
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13
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Veits M, Khait I, Obolski U, Zinger E, Boonman A, Goldshtein A, Saban K, Seltzer R, Ben-Dor U, Estlein P, Kabat A, Peretz D, Ratzersdorfer I, Krylov S, Chamovitz D, Sapir Y, Yovel Y, Hadany L. Flowers respond to pollinator sound within minutes by increasing nectar sugar concentration. Ecol Lett 2019; 22:1483-1492. [PMID: 31286633 PMCID: PMC6852653 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2018] [Revised: 01/07/2019] [Accepted: 04/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Can plants sense natural airborne sounds and respond to them rapidly? We show that Oenothera drummondii flowers, exposed to playback sound of a flying bee or to synthetic sound signals at similar frequencies, produce sweeter nectar within 3 min, potentially increasing the chances of cross pollination. We found that the flowers vibrated mechanically in response to these sounds, suggesting a plausible mechanism where the flower serves as an auditory sensory organ. Both the vibration and the nectar response were frequency‐specific: the flowers responded and vibrated to pollinator sounds, but not to higher frequency sound. Our results document for the first time that plants can rapidly respond to pollinator sounds in an ecologically relevant way. Potential implications include plant resource allocation, the evolution of flower shape and the evolution of pollinators sound. Finally, our results suggest that plants may be affected by other sounds as well, including anthropogenic ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marine Veits
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Itzhak Khait
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Uri Obolski
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Eyal Zinger
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Aya Goldshtein
- School of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Kfir Saban
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Rya Seltzer
- School of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Udi Ben-Dor
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Paz Estlein
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Areej Kabat
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Dor Peretz
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Ittai Ratzersdorfer
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Slava Krylov
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Daniel Chamovitz
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Yuval Sapir
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Lilach Hadany
- School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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14
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Amichai E, Tal S, Boonman A, Yovel Y. Ultrasound Imaging Reveals Accelerated In-utero Development of a Sensory Apparatus in Echolocating Bats. Sci Rep 2019; 9:5275. [PMID: 30918299 PMCID: PMC6437157 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41715-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Accepted: 03/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Organ development, both in-utero and after birth, follows a different path for every organ depending upon how early the newborn will use it. Perception of the environment using echolocation occurs very early in the life of neonatal bats. In nostril-emitting echolocating bats of the families Hipposideridae and Rhinolophidae, the shape and area of the nasal-horseshoe is crucial for echolocation emission. We therefore hypothesized that most of this organ’s ontogeny will be completed in-utero while skull and wings will develop slower and continue their growth after birth. We used intrauterine ultrasonography of pregnant females, and measured newborn Asellia tridens (Hipposideridae) to test our hypothesis at different stages of ontogeny. We found that horseshoe development is completed in-utero and neonates begin emitting precursor echolocation calls already two days after birth. In contrast, skull and forearm only develop to 70% and 40% of adult size (respectively), and continue development after birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eran Amichai
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
| | - Smadar Tal
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.,Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Arjan Boonman
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. .,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
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15
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Boonman A, Zadicario P, Mazon Y, Rabi C, Eilam D. The sounds of silence: Barn owl noise in landing and taking off. Behav Processes 2018; 157:484-488. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2018] [Revised: 06/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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16
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Benvenuti G, Chemla S, Boonman A, Masson G, Chavane F. Anticipation of an approaching bar by neuronal populations in awake monkey V1. J Vis 2015. [DOI: 10.1167/15.12.479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
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17
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Abstract
Animals often deal with situations in which vast sensory input is received simultaneously. They therefore must possess sophisticated mechanisms to select important input and ignore the rest. In bat echolocation, this problem is at its extreme. Echolocating bats emit sound signals and analyse the returning echoes to sense their environment. Bats from the same species use signals with similar frequencies. Nearby bats therefore face the difficulty of distinguishing their own echoes from the signals of other bats, a problem often referred to as jamming. Because bats commonly fly in large groups, jamming might simultaneously occur from numerous directions and at many frequencies. Jamming is a special case of the general phenomenon of sensory segregation. Another well-known example is the human problem of following conversation within a crowd. In both situations, a flood of auditory incoming signals must be parsed into important versus irrelevant information. Here, we present a novel method, fitting wild bats with a miniature microphone, which allows studying jamming from the bat's 'point of view'. Previous studies suggested that bats deal with jamming by shifting their echolocation frequency. On-board recordings suggest otherwise. Bats shifted their frequencies, but they did so because they were responding to the conspecifics as though they were nearby objects rather than avoiding being jammed by them. We show how bats could use alternative measures to deal with jamming instead of shifting their frequency. Despite its intuitive appeal, a spectral jamming avoidance response might not be the prime mechanism to avoid sensory interference from conspecifics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noam Cvikel
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Eran Levin
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ 85721, USA
| | - Edward Hurme
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Ivailo Borissov
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Arjan Boonman
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Eran Amichai
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
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18
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Kounitsky P, Rydell J, Amichai E, Boonman A, Eitan O, Weiss AJ, Yovel Y. Bats adjust their mouth gape to zoom their biosonar field of view. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:6724-9. [PMID: 25941395 PMCID: PMC4450403 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1422843112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Active sensing, where sensory acquisition is actively modulated, is an inherent component of almost all sensory systems. Echolocating bats are a prime example of active sensing. They can rapidly adjust many of their biosonar parameters to optimize sensory acquisition. They dynamically adjust pulse design, pulse duration, and pulse rate within dozens of milliseconds according to the sensory information that is required for the task that they are performing. The least studied and least understood degree of freedom in echolocation is emission beamforming--the ability to change the shape of the sonar sound beam in a functional way. Such an ability could have a great impact on the bat's control over its sensory perception. On the one hand, the bat could direct more energy into a narrow sector to zoom its biosonar field of view, and on the other hand, it could widen the beam to increase the space that it senses. We show that freely behaving bats constantly control their biosonar field of view in natural situations by rapidly adjusting their emitter aperture--the mouth gape. The bats dramatically narrowed the beam when entering a confined space, and they dramatically widened it within dozens of milliseconds when flying toward open space. Hence, mouth-emitting bats dynamically adjust their mouth gape to optimize the area that they sense with their echolocation system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pavel Kounitsky
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, School of Electrical Engineering, The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, and
| | - Jens Rydell
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences
| | | | | | - Ofri Eitan
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences
| | - Anthony J Weiss
- School of Electrical Engineering, The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, and
| | - Yossi Yovel
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
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19
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Cvikel N, Egert Berg K, Levin E, Hurme E, Borissov I, Boonman A, Amichai E, Yovel Y. Bats Aggregate to Improve Prey Search but Might Be Impaired when Their Density Becomes Too High. Curr Biol 2015; 25:206-211. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2014] [Revised: 10/15/2014] [Accepted: 11/05/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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20
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Boonman A, Bar-On Y, Cvikel N, Yovel Y. It's not black or white-on the range of vision and echolocation in echolocating bats. Front Physiol 2013; 4:248. [PMID: 24065924 PMCID: PMC3769648 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2013.00248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2013] [Accepted: 08/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Around 1000 species of bats in the world use echolocation to navigate, orient, and detect insect prey. Many of these bats emerge from their roost at dusk and start foraging when there is still light available. It is however unclear in what way and to which extent navigation, or even prey detection in these bats is aided by vision. Here we compare the echolocation and visual detection ranges of two such species of bats which rely on different foraging strategies (Rhinopoma microphyllum and Pipistrellus kuhlii). We find that echolocation is better than vision for detecting small insects even in intermediate light levels (1-10 lux), while vision is advantageous for monitoring far-away landscape elements in both species. We thus hypothesize that, bats constantly integrate information acquired by the two sensory modalities. We suggest that during evolution, echolocation was refined to detect increasingly small targets in conjunction with using vision. To do so, the ability to hear ultrasonic sound is a prerequisite which was readily available in small mammals, but absent in many other animal groups. The ability to exploit ultrasound to detect very small targets, such as insects, has opened up a large nocturnal niche to bats and may have spurred diversification in both echolocation and foraging tactics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjan Boonman
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life sciences, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel
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21
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Yovel Y, Stilz P, Franz MO, Boonman A, Schnitzler HU. What a plant sounds like: the statistics of vegetation echoes as received by echolocating bats. PLoS Comput Biol 2009; 5:e1000429. [PMID: 19578430 PMCID: PMC2699101 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2008] [Accepted: 06/02/2009] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A critical step on the way to understanding a sensory system is the analysis of the input it receives. In this work we examine the statistics of natural complex echoes, focusing on vegetation echoes. Vegetation echoes constitute a major part of the sensory world of more than 800 species of echolocating bats and play an important role in several of their daily tasks. Our statistical analysis is based on a large collection of plant echoes acquired by a biomimetic sonar system. We explore the relation between the physical world (the structure of the plant) and the characteristics of its echo. Finally, we complete the story by analyzing the effect of the sensory processing of both the echolocation and the auditory systems on the echoes and interpret them in the light of information maximization. The echoes of all different plant species we examined share a surprisingly robust pattern that was also reproduced by a simple Poisson model of the spatial reflector arrangement. The fine differences observed between the echoes of different plant species can be explained by the spatial characteristics of the plants. The bat's emitted signal enhances the most informative spatial frequency range where the species-specific information is large. The auditory system filtering affects the echoes in a similar way, thus enhancing the most informative spatial frequency range even more. These findings suggest how the bat's sensory system could have evolved to deal with complex natural echoes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yossi Yovel
- Animal Physiology Department, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
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22
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Boonman A, Prinsen E, Voesenek LACJ, Pons TL. Redundant roles of photoreceptors and cytokinins in regulating photosynthetic acclimation to canopy density. J Exp Bot 2009; 60:1179-90. [PMID: 19240103 PMCID: PMC2657547 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/ern364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2008] [Accepted: 12/22/2008] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
The regulation of photosynthetic acclimation to canopy density was investigated in tobacco canopies and in tobacco and Arabidopsis plants with part of their foliage experimentally shaded. Both species acclimated to canopy light gradients and partial shading by allocating photosynthetic capacity to leaves in high light and adjusting chloroplast organization to the local light conditions. An investigation was carried out to determine whether signalling mediated by photoreceptors, sugars, cytokinin, and nitrate is involved in and necessary for proper photosynthetic acclimation. No evidence was found for a role for sugars, or for nitrate. The distribution of cytokinins in tobacco stands of contrasting density could be explained in part by irradiance-dependent delivery of cytokinins through the transpiration stream. Functional studies using a comprehensive selection of Arabidopsis mutants and transgenics showed that normal wild-type responses to partial shading were retained when signalling mediated by photoreceptors or cytokinins was disrupted. This indicates that these pathways probably operate in a redundant manner. However, the reduction of the chlorophyll a/b ratio in response to local shade was completely absent in the Arabidopsis Ws-2 accession mutated in PHYTOCHROME D and in the triple phyAphyCphyD mutant. Moreover, cytokinin receptor mutants also showed a reduced response, suggesting a previously unrecognized function of phyD and cytokinins.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. Boonman
- Plant Ecophysiology Group, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, 3584 CA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - E. Prinsen
- Department of Biology, Laboratory for Plant Biochemistry and Physiology, University of Antwerpen, B-2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
| | - L. A. C. J. Voesenek
- Plant Ecophysiology Group, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, 3584 CA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - T. L. Pons
- Plant Ecophysiology Group, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, 3584 CA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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23
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Abstract
In this modeling study we wanted to find out why bats of the family Vespertilionidae (and probably also members of other families of bats) use pulses with a certain bandwidth and duration. Previous studies have only speculated on the function of bandwidth and pulse duration in bat echolocation or addressed this problem by assuming that bats optimize echolocation parameters to achieve very fine acuities in receiving single echoes. Here, we take a different approach by assuming that bats in nature rarely receive single echoes from each pulse emission, but rather many highly overlapping echoes. Some echolocation tasks require individual echoes to be separated to reconstruct reflection points in space. We used an established hearing model to investigate how the parameters bandwidth and pulse duration influence the separation of overlapping echoes. Our findings corroborate the following previously unknown or unsubstantiated facts: 1. Broadening the bandwidth improves the bat's lower resolution limit. 2. Increasing the sweep rate (defined by bandwidth and pulse duration) improves acuity of each extracted echo. 3. Decreasing the sweep rate improves the probability of frequency channels being activated. Since facts 2 and 3 affect sweep rate in an opposing fashion, an optimum sweep rate will exist, depending on the quality of the returning echoes and the requirements of the bat to improve acuity. The existence of an optimal sweep rate explains why bats are likely to use certain combinations of bandwidth and pulse duration to obtain such sweep rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjan Boonman
- INCM - CNRS UMR6193, 31 Chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France.
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24
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Boonman A, Schnitzler HU. Frequency modulation patterns in the echolocation signals of two vespertilionid bats. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2004; 191:13-21. [PMID: 15568143 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-004-0566-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2004] [Revised: 08/05/2004] [Accepted: 08/12/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
In this study we measure and classify frequency modulation patterns in echolocation signals of two species of bats. By using the derivative of an exponential model fitted to pulses emitted by Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Myotis myotis, we show that the modulation functions differ fundamentally between the two species and also vary within each species. This variation makes it unlikely that pulse design and the concomitant modulation pattern can be explained by a single common principle as previously suggested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjan Boonman
- Tierphysiologie, Zoologisches Institut, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
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25
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Boonman A, Jones G. Intensity control during target approach in echolocating bats;stereotypical sensori-motor behaviour in Daubenton's bats,Myotis daubentonii. J Exp Biol 2002; 205:2865-74. [PMID: 12177150 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.205.18.2865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARYWhen approaching a prey target, bats have been found to decrease the intensity of their emitted echolocation pulses, called intensity compensation. In this paper we examine whether intensity compensation in the echolocation of bats is flexible or stereotyped. We recorded the echolocation calls of Daubenton's bats (Myotis daubentonii) while the animals attacked targets of different dimensions. Myotis daubentonii reduced the peak sound pressure level emitted by about 4dB for each halving of distance,irrespective of the target presented (mealworms and two different sizes of spheres). The absolute sound pressure level emitted by the bat is not or only a little affected by target strength. Furthermore, the decrease in emitted intensity over distance shows less scatter than the same intensity over time for the last 20 cm of target approach. The bats matched the emitted intensity to target distance equally well for the spheres (aspect-invariant target strength) as for the mealworms (aspect-dependent echo strength). We therefore conclude that intensity compensation does not rely on feedback information from received intensity, but instead follows a stereotyped pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjan Boonman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, UK.
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Boonman A, Machiels F, Snik A, Egberts J. Squeeze-out from mixed monolayers of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine and egg phosphatidylglycerol. J Colloid Interface Sci 1987. [DOI: 10.1016/0021-9797(87)90372-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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