Experimental studies of the ontogeny of ultrasonic vocalizations in bats.
The ontogeny of FM pulses emitted by bats is a process of maturation that is not easily altered by experimental manipulation during early development. Infants that were hand-raised and infants that were raised by mothers with altered voices (the superior laryngeal nerves were cauterized pre- and postpartum) emitted normal adult calls. Effects of pinching the superior laryngeal nerves of young bats with a cold forcepts on their vocalizations suggest that the development of this nerve and its associated musculature occurs early in the bat's postnatal life.
D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000254:growth & development*; D003423:Critical Period, Psychological; D004455:Echolocation; D005260:Female; D007823:Laryngeal Nerves / Q000502:physiology; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy; D012683:Sensory Deprivation; D014465:Ultrasonics; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology