Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience

Dr. Matthew Mason: Further Information...

University Physiologist Tel: +44 (0)1223 333829, Fax: +44 (0)1223 333840, E-mail: mjm68@cam.ac.uk

Veselka, N., McErlain, D.D., Holdsworth, D.W., Eger, J.L., Chhem, R.K., Mason, M.J., Brain, K.L., Faure, P.A. & Fenton, M.B. (2010) A bony connection signals laryngeal echolocation in bats. Nature 463: 939-942.

In this study, centred at the University of Western Ontario, we used micro-CT scanners located at the Robarts Research Institute in London, Ontario to collect detailed 3D scans of the internal anatomy of 26 different bats, representing 11 different evolutionary lineages. In particular, we were interested in examining the hyoid apparatus, a chain of tiny bones which suspends the larynx from the skull.

In those bats which use their larynx to produce the high-frequency vocalizations used in echolocation, we found that the stylohyal bone (part of the hyoid chain) passes over the tympanic bone which houses the middle ear apparatus. In many species, the two are in intimate, bony contact. This suggests the possibility that a signal might pass between larynx and ear, which the bat might use in order to monitor its own echolocation signal. In those bats which do not echolocate using laryngeal sound, members of the family Pteropodidae ("megabats"), the connection between stylohyal and tympanic is missing. This anatomical relationship between stylohyal and tympanic reliably distinguishes all living bats that use laryngeal echolocation from those bats that do not echolocate, and those that echolocate with tongue clicks. This should make it easier to determine whether or not fossil bats could perform this form of echolocation, which will help researchers to investigate its evolution.

To access this article via the Nature website, please click here.

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