AR-News: (UK) Blind as a bat? Flying mammals can identify insects, fruit and trees

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
30 March 2004 
The radar system used by bats to navigate in the dark is more sophisticated 
than previously known and can even help the flying mammals to distinguish 
between different types of tree.
Bats carry out a complicated statistical analysis of the world around them 
using their echolocation system, according to a new study. It means that they 
can paint a wide-angle picture of the night-time landscape through which they 
fly, as well as being able to identify individual objects such as insects and 
fruit.
The creatures are known to navigate by emitting high-pitched calls and 
listening to the echoes, much as a submarine sonar listens to acoustic reflections. 
But a bat's sonar generates an immense amount of background noise or "clutter" 
which until now was thought to be extraneous information and was ignored.




full story:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=506493 
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