
Young bats develop a ‘caller ID’ to avoid poisonous prey
Laura Baisas
created: April 29, 2025, 11:05 p.m. | updated: May 9, 2025, 11 p.m.
However, the frog-eating fringe-lipped bat (Trachops cirrhosus) uses sound instead of looking out for bright colors.
A fringe-lipped bat responds to the calls of the túngara frog, one of its preferred prey species.
If a fringe-lipped bat hears a call, it will fly toward the sound within only a few seconds.
As a way to adapt to this risk, fringe-lipped bats have developed a system similar to caller ID on phones.
Fringe-lipped bats are not the only predators to learn how to eavesdrop and use sound to distinguish palatable prey.
3 months ago: Popular Science