{"id":16646,"date":"2022-05-19T09:48:37","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T07:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=3410"},"modified":"2022-05-19T12:50:13","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T10:50:13","slug":"what-is-echolocation-and-which-animals-use-it","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/what-is-echolocation-and-which-animals-use-it\/","title":{"rendered":"What is echolocation and which animals use it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Jo Price\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 19 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Echolocation is a technique used by bats, dolphins and other animals to determine the location of objects using reflected sound. This allows the animals\u00a0to move around in pitch darkness, so they can navigate, hunt, identify friends and enemies, and avoid obstacles.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Which animals use echolocation?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/mammals\/how-do-bats-navigate\/"\">Bats<\/a>, whales, dolphins, a few birds like the nocturnal oilbird and some swiftlets, some shrews and the similar tenrec from <a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/holidays-days-out\/africa\/wildlife-travel-what-animals-can-i-see-in-madagascar\/"\">Madagascar<\/a> are all known to echolocate. Another possible candidate is the hedgehog, and incredibly some blind people have also developed the ability to echolocate.<\/p>\n<div class=\""image-handler__container\" image-handler__container--aspect=\"\" style=\""padding-bottom:\" calc=\"\"> <picture><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=299%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?quality=90&resize=299%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=354%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?quality=90&resize=354%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=404%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?quality=90&resize=404%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=554%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?quality=90&resize=554%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=620%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=407%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?quality=90&resize=407%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=555%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?quality=90&resize=555%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><img class=\""wp-image-18344\" align=\"\" size-landscape_thumbnail=\"\" image-handler__image=\"\" image-handler__image--aspect=\"\" no-wrap=\"\" js-lazyload=\"\" data-src=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-480518189-933e9d9.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" width=\""620"\" height=\""413"\" alt=\"""\" title=\"""\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><div class=\""caption-hold"\"><figcaption class=\""wp-caption-text"\"><span class=\""caption-copy"\"><i class=\""icon-arrow\" icon-camera-circle=\"\"\/> <em>The lowland streaked tenrec from Madagascar is one of the more unusual animals that has evolved echolocation. \u00a9 Arto Hakola\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><span class=\""im-image-caption"\"\/><\/div>\n<h2>Why did echolocation evolve in animals?<\/h2>\n<p>For dolphins and toothed whales, this technique enables them to see in muddy waters or dark ocean depths, and may even have evolved so that they can chase squid and other\u00a0deep-diving species.<\/p>\n<p>Echolocation allows bats to fly at night as well as in dark caves. This is a skill they probably developed so they could locate night-flying insects that birds can\u2019t find.<\/p>\n<div class=\""image-handler__container\" image-handler__container--aspect=\"\" style=\""padding-bottom:\" calc=\"\"> <picture><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=298%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?quality=90&resize=298%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=354%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?quality=90&resize=354%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=403%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?quality=90&resize=403%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=553%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?quality=90&resize=553%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=619%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=406%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?quality=90&resize=406%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=555%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?quality=90&resize=555%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><img class=\""wp-image-16659\" align=\"\" size-landscape_thumbnail=\"\" image-handler__image=\"\" image-handler__image--aspect=\"\" no-wrap=\"\" js-lazyload=\"\" data-src=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-82261773-b2d6e40.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" width=\""620"\" height=\""413"\" alt=\"""\" title=\"""\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><div class=\""caption-hold"\"><figcaption class=\""wp-caption-text"\"><span class=\""caption-copy"\"><i class=\""icon-arrow\" icon-camera-circle=\"\"\/> <em>It would be impossible for bats to fly around at night without echolocation. \u00a9 James Hager\/Robert Harding\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><span class=\""im-image-caption"\"\/><\/div>\n<section class=\""highlight\"><div class=\""highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> <p>You may also like:<\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/mammals\/hunting-success-rates-how-predators-compare\/"\">Which apex predator is the most dangerous?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/news\/tv-attenboroughs-wonder-of-song\/"\">Watch <em>Attenborough\u2019s Wonder of Song<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/how-to\/watch-wildlife\/best-nature-documentaries\/"\">The best nature documentaries to stream<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><p> <\/p><\/div> <\/section><h2>How do dolphins use echolocation?<\/h2>\n<p>Dolphins and whales use echolocation by bouncing high-pitched clicking sounds off underwater objects, similar to shouting and listening for echoes. The sounds are made by squeezing air through nasal passages near the blowhole. These soundwaves then pass into the forehead, where a big blob of fat called the melon focuses them into a beam.<\/p>\n<p>If the echolocating call hits something, the reflected sound is picked up through the animal\u2019s lower jaw and passed to its ears. Echolocating sounds are so loud that the ears of dolphins and whales are shielded to protect them. Dolphins and whales use this method to work out an object\u2019s distance, direction, speed, density and size.<\/p>\n<div class=\""image-handler__container\" image-handler__container--aspect=\"\" style=\""padding-bottom:\" calc=\"\"> <picture><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=298%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?quality=90&resize=298%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=354%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?quality=90&resize=354%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=403%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?quality=90&resize=403%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=553%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?quality=90&resize=553%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=619%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=406%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?quality=90&resize=406%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=554%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?quality=90&resize=554%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><img class=\""wp-image-16657\" align=\"\" size-landscape_thumbnail=\"\" image-handler__image=\"\" image-handler__image--aspect=\"\" no-wrap=\"\" js-lazyload=\"\" data-src=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-824634048-6569854.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" width=\""620"\" height=\""413"\" alt=\"""\" title=\"""\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><div class=\""caption-hold"\"><figcaption class=\""wp-caption-text"\"><span class=\""caption-copy"\"><i class=\""icon-arrow\" icon-camera-circle=\"\"\/> <em>Schools of dolphins use echolocation to communicate with each other and hunt. \u00a9 Gerard Soury\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><span class=\""im-image-caption"\"\/><\/div>\n<p>Using echolocation, dolphins can detect an object the size of a golfball about the length of a football pitch away \u2013 much further than they can see. By moving its head to aim the sound beam at different parts of a fish, a dolphin can also differentiate between species.<\/p> <h2>How do bats use echolocation?<\/h2>\n<p>Bats make echolocating sounds in their larynxes and emit them through their mouths. Fortunately, most are too high-pitched for humans to hear \u2013 some bats can scream at up to 140 decibels, as loud as a jet engine 30m away.<\/p>\n<div class=\""image-handler__container\" image-handler__container--aspect=\"\" style=\""padding-bottom:\" calc=\"\"> <picture><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=260%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?quality=90&resize=260%2C199,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=309%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?quality=90&resize=309%2C236,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=352%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?quality=90&resize=352%2C269,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=483%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(max-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?quality=90&resize=483%2C369,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=540%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?quality=90&resize=540%2C413,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=355%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?quality=90&resize=355%2C271,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?webp=true&quality=90&resize=484%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/webp"\"><source media=\""(min-width:\" data-srcset=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?quality=90&resize=484%2C370,\" https:=\"\" type=\""image\/jpeg"\"><img class=\""wp-image-16658\" align=\"\" size-landscape_thumbnail=\"\" image-handler__image=\"\" image-handler__image--aspect=\"\" no-wrap=\"\" js-lazyload=\"\" data-src=\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2015\/11\/GettyImages-90066414-cf77904.jpg?quality=90&resize=540%2C413"\" width=\""620"\" height=\""413"\" alt=\"""\" title=\"""\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><div class=\""caption-hold"\"><figcaption class=\""wp-caption-text"\"><span class=\""caption-copy"\"><i class=\""icon-arrow\" icon-camera-circle=\"\"\/> <em>Greater horseshoe bat using echolocation to chase a moth. \u00a9 Oxford Scientific\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><span class=\""im-image-caption"\"\/><\/div>\n<p>Bats can detect an insect up to 5m away, work out its size and hardness, and can also avoid wires as fine as human hairs. As a bat closes in for the kill, it cranks up its calls to pinpoint the prey.<\/p>\n<p>To avoid being deafened by its own calls, a bat turns off its middle ear just before calling, restoring its hearing a split second later to listen for echoes.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How do other animals use echolocation?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The oilbird is active at night, and some insect-eating swiftlets roost in dark caves, so it makes sense for them to have evolved the ability to echolocate. Both use sharp, audible clicks to navigate through\u00a0the darkness.<\/p>\n<p>Some nocturnal shrews use ultrasonic squeaks to explore their dark surroundings, and the shrew-like tenrecs of Madagascar echolocate at night using tongue clicks, possibly to find food.<\/p>\n<p>Hedgehogs use ultrasonic whistles, they\u2019ve got excellent hearing and they live in similar habitats to tenrecs and shrews, but we haven\u2019t yet been able to confirm that they echolocate for certain.<\/p>\n<p>Another intriguing possibility is humans \u2013 many blind people can find their way around simply by listening to echoes bouncing off surrounding objects, and some expert human echolocators make short high clicks similar to those found in nature.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jo Price Published: Thursday, 19 May 2022 at 12:00 am Echolocation is a technique used by bats, dolphins and other animals to determine the location of objects using reflected sound. This allows the animals\u00a0to move around in pitch darkness, so they can navigate, hunt, identify friends and enemies, and avoid obstacles. Which animals use […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16647,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/05\/what-is-echolocation-and-which-animals-use-it.jpg",2041,1469,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/05\/what-is-echolocation-and-which-animals-use-it-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/05\/what-is-echolocation-and-which-animals-use-it-300x216.jpg",300,216,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/05\/what-is-echolocation-and-which-animals-use-it-768x553.jpg",768,553,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/05\/what-is-echolocation-and-which-animals-use-it-1024x737.jpg",800,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/05\/what-is-echolocation-and-which-animals-use-it-1536x1106.jpg",1536,1106,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/05\/what-is-echolocation-and-which-animals-use-it.jpg",2041,1469,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Jo Price Published: Thursday, 19 May 2022 at 12:00 am Echolocation is a technique used by bats, dolphins and other animals to determine the location of objects using reflected sound. This allows the animals\u00a0to move around in pitch darkness, so they can navigate, hunt, identify friends and enemies, and avoid obstacles. Which animals use…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/16646"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}