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Sonar or SONAR stands for “SOand Naviation And Ranger “. It allows an animal (or an artificial device such as a submarine) to use sound waves – specifically the propagation of sound – to detect objects, navigate, measure distances, or even communicate.
In animals, this ability is described as biosonar or echolocation. How does sonar work? Think of the word “echo” in the word “echolocation.” The animal makes sound bouncing off or bouncing off objects. The animal can interpret the echo or returning sound to determine the shape, material, and distance to the object from which it bounced.
Why is sonar vital to the survival of some animals? Various animals use sonar to navigate in the dark, find food, or avoid predators. These animals often use sonar instead of other senses such as sight or smell. Without echolocation, these animals would not have lived long. They will not be able to find food, or will be eaten by a predator, or injured by flying or swimming in solid objects.
What animals use echolocation for survival? Many people are familiar with the echo sounder used by bats and dolphins, but would you believe that some rodents and birds use it too? Check out our full list below – no. 10 may surprise you!
1. Bats
Bats make loud clicks during flight. When sound reaches a flying insect or physical obstacle, it is reflected back into the bat’s ears. Specialized areas of the brain decode sounds, and the back can hunt for prey or fly around obstacles.
Have you ever heard the saying “blind as a bat”? It is true that some bats are nearly blind, and these species definitely rely on echolocation rather than sight. But some sighted bats also use echolocation.
However, not all bat species use echolocation. Representatives of the suborder Microchiroptera and Megachiroptera use sonars for hunting and navigation, respectively. But bats like flying foxes don’t use echolocation at all.
Learn more about bats.
2. Dolphins
Dolphins are known for their high-pitched noises and clicks. Dolphins make these sounds in their nasal sacs and focus sound waves through the melon, a bulb of fatty tissue on the dolphin’s head.
Water is an excellent conductor of sound; therefore, these sounds are reflected from objects and return to the dolphin. Dolphins can use echolocation to find fish in muddy waters or objects buried in the sand. Scientists have determined that the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) can “hear” an object the size of a ping-pong ball from over 350 feet away!
Dolphins can also use echolocation to determine what an object is made of. For example, they are often interested in medical devices (metal rods and rods, prostheses) or scar tissue when interacting with people. Decades ago, some dolphins were even trained as underwater “spies” for the military! Their duties included the detection of lost objects (using sonar) and the search for underwater mines.
Learn more about dolphins.
3. Toothed whales
Toothed whales such as killer whales (Orcinus orca), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), porpoises and belugas (Dolphinapter levkas) use echolocation like dolphins. The dolphins mentioned above are also toothed whales.
Toothed whales use echolocation to navigate muddy waters with poor visibility. They also use it to find prey. Beluga whales were one of the first whales to use sonar based on observations of their swimming and navigation. Interestingly, the sperm whale uses single sonar clicks, while other species use a series of clicks called a click sequence.
Baleen whales such as blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) and humpbacked (Megaptera novaeangliae) whales do not use echolocation.
4. Yes, yes
Yes-ay (Daubentonia madagascariensis) are bizarre lemurs that live in Madagascar. It is the only primate other than humans known to use echolocation. And they don’t use clicks or vocalizations. Instead, the aye-aye taps the tree it is climbing on with a long, thin middle finger. Then he listens to the echo coming from the inside of the tree. What he hears tells him if there are insect holes. If they are, he digs in!
Find out more about yes yes.
5. Chinese pygmy dormouse
Chinese pygmy dormouse (Typhlomis sinereus) is an almost blind arboreal or arboreal rodent. It uses a low squeak, too quiet for human ears to hear, to navigate the branches of trees. It is believed that this unique quality – quiet rather than loud sounds – is due to the fact that the branches are very close to the animal. Its echoes should not overlap distances like other sonar users.
Learn more about dormouse.
6.screws
Shrews are small mammals that look like moles. They are similar to rodents, but not one of them. At least three species of shrews – common shrew (Sorex araneus), wandering shrew (Wagran Sorex), short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) – were observed using echolocation. Others may also have this ability.
Instead of clicks, the shrews emit ultrasonic squeaks. Like our other sonar users, they then listen to echoes to explore the dark environment.
7. Tenreki
Have you ever heard of tenrec? This small mammal from Madagascar resembles a shrew or a hedgehog. There are about thirty types of tenrecs, ranging in size from a few ounces to two pounds.
Tenrecs use tongue clicks for echolocation. It is believed that they use this sonar as a means of finding food. Interestingly, tenrec echolocation seems instinctive; it is not learned behavior. Even captive-bred tenrecs kept in isolation use sonars to probe their enclosures.
eight. Aerodamus Cave swiftlets
Haircuts are small birds that live in caves in Asia and the Pacific. For these birds, which live in flocks of up to a million individuals, it can be quite crowded. How do they avoid colliding with each other while flying in dark caves? Some species, such as the dwarf swiftlet (Collocalia troglodytes) emit clicks that allow them to navigate with sonar.
Cave Swiftts are one of two birds known to use sonar. Consider another option below.
9. Oil birds
Oil birds (Steatornis caripensis) is native to South America. Their name comes from their fatty appearance, for example, oils for cooking and lighting lamps can be obtained from the meat of fatty animals. Like the swiftlet, oil birds are nocturnal and use echolocation to navigate their dark caves.
10. People
Above, we mentioned how people (Homo sapiens) created machines that use sonar. Submarines and airplanes can use it for navigation. Commercial and recreational fishermen use it to find fish, while researchers use it to map the ocean floor.
But some people have mastered the amazing ability of biosonar. When a person loses their sight and becomes blind, or when they are born blind, other senses may be amplified to compensate. Some blind people listen carefully to their surroundings to help them get around. Some even make short, high-pitched clicks and listen to echoes.
Learn more about people.
Animals using sonar
What other animals we may find are secretly using sonar for survival? Time will show. Experiments with blind rats show they can study use sonar to navigate mazes. There may be other people capable of this trained behavior, or those using noises that are too quiet for us to hear.
Next: new study: vision in zebrafish may cure color blindness
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