Angie Salles, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Illinois Chicago
Social Behavior and Acoustic Communication in Bats
Bats are auditory specialists, using acoustic signals to guide their behaviors, including prey tracking, navigation, and communication. Most bat species are very social and emit various communication calls, including food-claiming, aggressive, and appeasement calls. There is strong evidence that context plays a role in the processing of acoustic signals in humans and other animals. Yet, this process’s circuits and mechanisms are still not fully understood. Bats emerge as outstanding mammalian models to explore the neural mechanisms underlying acoustic communication. In the lab, we work with two phylogenetically distant species of bats: Carollia perspicillata and Rousettus aegyptiacus. Though these are both frugivorous bats, these species have many differences. First, they have different echolocation mechanisms; Carollia bats are laryngeal echolocators (i.e. use their larynx to produce ultrasonic sonar signals), while Rousettus bats are lingual echolocators (i.e. use tongue clicks to produce ultrasonic sonar signals). Both species use their larynx to produce their communication signals, but their repertoire differs greatly in structure and spectral patterns. Additionally, they have different social structures; Carollia forms harems with high-roost fidelity, whereas Rousettus is promiscuous, with mating occurring with different males within a season. We are leveraging these behavioral and physiological differences to contrast and compare the underlying neural circuits for social communication and behavior across taxa. I will present our current work and preliminary findings on the social behavior of these different bats and on the neural circuits involved in the processing of their communication signals.