Greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail as a tactile sensor when navigating backwards
Summary: Animals use a wide arsenal of sensory modalities to orient, often combining information from different modalities to improve sensing. Animals mostly move forward and hence most of their sensory organs are frontal. In some situations, moving backwards is a necessity and some animals have evo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | iScience |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225002743 |
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| author | Sahar Hajyahia Mor Taub Ofri Eitan Orit Dashevsky Yossi Yovel |
| author_facet | Sahar Hajyahia Mor Taub Ofri Eitan Orit Dashevsky Yossi Yovel |
| author_sort | Sahar Hajyahia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Animals use a wide arsenal of sensory modalities to orient, often combining information from different modalities to improve sensing. Animals mostly move forward and hence most of their sensory organs are frontal. In some situations, moving backwards is a necessity and some animals have evolved designated sensory strategies. The greater mouse-tailed bats (Rhinopoma microphyllum) belong to one of few bat families that possess a long free tail which they wag in a pendulum like pattern when moving backwards up walls and between obstacles. We show that greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail to navigate around obstacles and are hindered when their tail is anesthetized. Additionally, we find that they use their tail to discriminate between textures and can sense subtle changes. We suggest that the use of the tail as a tactile sensor enables these bats to move backwards quickly when other sensory modalities are useless. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7f1decfdf5d046e885cf6e5e3a96a5a2 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2589-0042 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | iScience |
| spelling | doaj-art-7f1decfdf5d046e885cf6e5e3a96a5a22025-08-20T03:16:34ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422025-03-0128311201410.1016/j.isci.2025.112014Greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail as a tactile sensor when navigating backwardsSahar Hajyahia0Mor Taub1Ofri Eitan2Orit Dashevsky3Yossi Yovel4School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, IsraelSchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, IsraelSchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, IsraelSchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, IsraelSchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel; Corresponding authorSummary: Animals use a wide arsenal of sensory modalities to orient, often combining information from different modalities to improve sensing. Animals mostly move forward and hence most of their sensory organs are frontal. In some situations, moving backwards is a necessity and some animals have evolved designated sensory strategies. The greater mouse-tailed bats (Rhinopoma microphyllum) belong to one of few bat families that possess a long free tail which they wag in a pendulum like pattern when moving backwards up walls and between obstacles. We show that greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail to navigate around obstacles and are hindered when their tail is anesthetized. Additionally, we find that they use their tail to discriminate between textures and can sense subtle changes. We suggest that the use of the tail as a tactile sensor enables these bats to move backwards quickly when other sensory modalities are useless.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225002743Wildlife behaviorBiological sciencesZoology |
| spellingShingle | Sahar Hajyahia Mor Taub Ofri Eitan Orit Dashevsky Yossi Yovel Greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail as a tactile sensor when navigating backwards iScience Wildlife behavior Biological sciences Zoology |
| title | Greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail as a tactile sensor when navigating backwards |
| title_full | Greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail as a tactile sensor when navigating backwards |
| title_fullStr | Greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail as a tactile sensor when navigating backwards |
| title_full_unstemmed | Greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail as a tactile sensor when navigating backwards |
| title_short | Greater mouse-tailed bats use their tail as a tactile sensor when navigating backwards |
| title_sort | greater mouse tailed bats use their tail as a tactile sensor when navigating backwards |
| topic | Wildlife behavior Biological sciences Zoology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225002743 |
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