Sex matters in echoacoustic orientation: gender differences in the use of acoustic landmarks in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phyllostomus discolor</Emphasis> (lesser spear-nosed bat) |
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Authors: | Daniel Schmidtke Karl-Heinz Esser |
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Institution: | (1) Auditory Neuroethology and Neurobiology, Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Buenteweg 17, 30559 Hannover, Germany;(2) Center for Systems Neuroscience, Hannover, Germany |
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Abstract: | Sex-specific differences in orientation strategies are well known for several rodent and primate species with females relying
more on landmarks when it comes to visually guided orientation, whereas males preferentially use Euclidean cues. We used the
echolocating bat Phyllostomus discolor for a behavioural study on gender differences in the use of acoustic landmarks. The experimental animals (6 males, 6 females)
had to learn and perform a simple orientational task, firstly in the absence of landmarks and subsequently in the presence
of four acoustic landmarks of which one was occasionally removed during the critical experiment. The results presented here
show that gender differences in the use of acoustic landmarks exist in P. discolor, which supports our hypothesis that the phenomenon is independent of the modality that is used to sense the environment during
orientation. Therefore, our findings allow for the prediction of similar phenomena in other acoustically orienting mammals.
Interestingly, due to the specific ecology of P. discolor, our results partially contradict the evolutionary theories on gender-specific orientation, as will be discussed. Finally,
we consider our finding as being one of several important steps toward establishing bats as a new model organism in neuroscientific
studies on allocentric spatial cognition in mammals. |
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