title: Place recognition using batlike sonar.
abstract: Echolocating bats have excellent spatial memory and are able to navigate to salient locations using bio-sonar. Navigating and route-following require animals to recognize places. Currently, it is mostly unknown how bats recognize places using echolocation. In this paper, we propose template based place recognition might underlie sonar-based navigation in bats. Under this hypothesis, bats recognize places by remembering their echo signature - rather than their 3D layout. Using a large body of ensonification data collected in three different habitats, we test the viability of this hypothesis assessing two critical properties of the proposed echo signatures: (1) they can be uniquely classified and (2) they vary continuously across space. Based on the results presented, we conclude that the proposed echo signatures satisfy both criteria. We discuss how these two properties of the echo signatures can support navigation and building a cognitive map.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.|Active Perception Lab, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8049-5178
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vanderelst
authors.affiliation: Active Perception Lab, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.|Constrained Systems Lab, Faculty of Applied Engineering, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Steckel
authors.affiliation: Active Perception Lab, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Andre
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3489-5063
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boen
authors.affiliation: Active Perception Lab, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Peremans
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Marc W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Holderied
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D004455:Echolocation; D005426:Flight, Animal; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009949:Orientation
keywords: bats; chiroptera; computational biology; echolocation; ecology; navigation; systems biology