Animals have evolved diverse strategies to use social information for increasing foraging success and efficiency. Echolocating bats, for example, can eavesdrop on bats foraging nearby because they shift from search-phase calls to feeding buzzes when they detect prey. Feeding buzzes can directly convey information about prey presence, but it is unknown whether search-phase calls also convey social information. Here, we investigated whether search-phase echolocation calls, distinct calls produced by some bat species to scan large open areas for prey, can additionally convey individual identity. We tested this in Molossus molossus, a neotropical insectivorous bat that forages with group members, presumably to find ephemeral insect swarms more efficiently. We caught M. molossus from six different social groups and recorded their search-phase calls during a standardized release procedure, then recaptured and tested 19 marked bats with habituation–dishabituation playback experiments. We showed that they can discriminate between group members based on search-phase calls, and our statistical analysis of call parameters supported the presence of individual signatures in search-phase calls. Individual discrimination is a prerequisite of individual recognition, which may allow M. molossus to maintain contact with group members while foraging without using specialized signals for communication.

中文翻译：

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基于搜寻阶段回声定位的呼叫，对社交觅食蝙蝠进行区分

动物已经进化出多种策略来利用社交信息来提高觅食的成功率和效率。例如，将蝙蝠放回原位可以窃听附近觅食的蝙蝠，因为它们在检测到猎物时从搜索阶段的呼叫转变为喂食蜂鸣。嗡嗡声可以直接传达有关猎物存在的信息，但尚不清楚搜索阶段的呼叫是否也传达社交信息。在这里，我们调查了搜索阶段的回声定位调用（某些蝙蝠物种为扫描大型开放区域捕食而产生的独特调用）是否可以额外传达个人身份。我们在新热带食虫蝙蝠Molossus molossus中进行了测试，该蝙蝠与小组成员一起觅食，大概是为了更高效地找到短暂的昆虫群。我们抓到了M. molossus来自六个不同社会群体的人，并在标准化发布程序中记录了他们的搜索阶段呼叫，然后通过习惯化-适应化回放实验重新捕获并测试了19只标记的蝙蝠。我们证明了他们可以根据搜索阶段的呼叫来区分组成员，并且我们对呼叫参数的统计分析支持在搜索阶段的呼叫中存在单个签名。个人歧视是个人认可的先决条件，这可以使莫桑分枝杆菌在觅食时保持与小组成员的联系，而无需使用专门的信号进行交流。