Which organ does a bat use to produce ultrasonic sound?
Bats use ultrasonic sound for navigation. Their ability to catch flying insects while flying full speed in pitch darkness is astounding. Their sophisticated echolocation permits them to distinguish between a moth (supper) and a falling leaf. About 800 species of bats grouped into 17 families. The ultrasonic signals utilized by these bats fall into three main categories. 1. short clicks, 2. Frequency-swept pulses, and 3. constant frequency pulses. There are two suborders, Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera. Megas use short clicks, Micros use the other two. Tongue clicks produce click pairs separated by about 30ms, with 140-430 ms between pairs. (Sales and Pye, Ultrasonic Communication by Animals). 10-60 kHz in frequency swept clicks. One kind of bat, the verspertilionidae, have frequency swept pulses 78 kHz to 39 kHz in 2.3 ms. Emits pulses 8 to 15 times a second, but can increase to 150-200/s when there is a tricky maneuver to be made.
