Bat echolocation plasticity in allopatry: a call for caution in acoustic identification of Pipistrellus sp. ...

• Main Authors: Montauban, Cecilia, Mas, Maria, Tuneu-Corral, Carme, Wangensteen, Owen S., Budinski, Ivana, Martí-Carreras, Joan, Flaquer, Carles, Puig-Montserrat, Xavier, López-Baucells, Adrià
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2021
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Pipistrellus pipistrellus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13462470; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13462470

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Animals modify their behaviours and interactions in response to changing environments. In bats, environmental adaptations are reflected in echolocation signalling that is used for navigation, foraging and communication. However, the extent and drivers of echolocation plasticity are not fully understood, hindering our identification of bat species with ultrasonic detectors, particularly for cryptic species with similar echolocation calls. We used a combination of DNA barcoding, intensive trapping, roost and emergence surveys and acoustic recording to study a widespread European cryptic species complex (Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Pipistrellus pygmaeus) to investigate whether sibling bat species could exhibit extreme echolocation plasticity in response to certain environmental conditions or behaviours. We found that P. pygmaeus occupied the acoustic niche of their absent congeneric species, producing calls with P. pipistrellus' characteristic structure and ...