echolocation
Hearing your surroundings
Echolocation is a biological sonar system used by certain animals—bats, dolphins, some whales—to navigate and locate prey in darkness or murky water.
The animal emits sounds and interprets the returning echoes to map its surroundings.
Bats use echolocation to catch insects in flight.
The term also applies to similar technology in submarines and robotics.
Echolocating marine mammal
- whaleHuge sea mammal
- porpoiseSmall toothed whale relative
- belugaWhite Arctic cetacean
- orcaLarge predatory dolphin
clicks · melon · blowhole · underwater · prey · fish · squid · krill
Traveling pressure disturbance
- frequencyRate of recurrence
- ultrasoundInaudible high-frequency waves
- sonarUnderwater detection by echoes
- reverberationProlonged reflected sound
pitch · waveform · amplitude · resonance · vibration · hertz · decibel · oscillation
Scientific name for bats
- nocturnalActive during darkness
- insectivoreOrganism eating bugs primarily
- roostingSettling to sleep aloft
- caveUnderground hollow in rock
flight · hunting · foraging · colony · guano · insects · prey · ultrasonic
Arterial blood throb
burst · frequency · modulation · emission · transmission · return · reflection · target
Something blocking the way
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- spatialRelating to physical extent
- mappingDiagram of correspondences
- orientationPosition relative to surroundings
distance · environment · darkness · surroundings · terrain · detection · awareness · perception
dolphin
Echolocating marine mammal
orca · clicks · melon · blowhole · underwater · prey · fish · squid · krill · pod
soundwave
Traveling pressure disturbance
- frequencyRate of recurrence
- ultrasoundInaudible high-frequency waves
- sonarUnderwater detection by echoes
reverberation · pitch · waveform · amplitude · resonance · vibration · hertz · decibel · oscillation · auditory
chiroptera
Scientific name for bats
- nocturnalActive during darkness
- insectivoreOrganism eating bugs primarily
- roostingSettling to sleep aloft
cave · flight · hunting · foraging · colony · guano · insects · prey · ultrasonic · laryngeal
pulse
Arterial blood throb
ping · burst · frequency · modulation · emission · transmission · return · reflection · target · detection
obstacle
Something blocking the way
orientation · distance · environment · darkness · surroundings · terrain · detection · awareness · perception · blind
- bat lifehibernaculum, torpor, pups, nursing mothers
- soundsound, sound waves, echoes, vibrations, audio
- adaptationnatural selection, evolution, mimicry, camouflage, hibernation
- animal adaptationscamouflage, webbed feet, filter feeding, thick fur, blubber
- sensessight, smell, taste, hearing, touch
- animal behaviorsswimming, running, walking, jumping, flying
echolocationvision
Ability to see
sight · visual perception · photoreception · eyesight · passive listening