Bat Bioacoustics

Abstract

Although bats rarely come to man's attention, they belong to one of the most abundant groups of mammals. More than 1,100 species of bats are distributed over nearly the entire world, except for the most extreme desert and polar regions, amounting to approximately 20% of all living species of mammals. By exploiting the nocturnal three-dimensional space, they gained access to the rich resources of nocturnal aerial life while almost completely avoiding competition from the other main group of flying predators, the birds.