Bat

Pterosaurs, the first vertebrates to fly, would have had more diverse wing shapes than current scientific reconstructions suggest, according to new University of Bristol-led research. The study is published in the journal Paleobiology.

At first glance, bat sea stars, the nubbly, orange, many-footed creatures often found on the seafloor, seem about as far from humans as one can get. Appearances can be deceiving, however. Scientists have found evidence showing human and sea star ovaries share similar genetics, cell types and signaling processes, despite their ancient evolutionary split. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Many bat species emit echolocation calls and use the returning echoes to find their way, detect the presence of fluttering insects, and locate and catch them. A new study investigated this behavior in greater horseshoe bats foraging in the wild. An international team, including researchers from the University of Tübingen, "flew" with bats via GPS recording tags with microphones.

Even in darkness, many animals retain a sense of orientation because their nervous system sustains a memory of heading encoded by the activity of head-direction (HD) cells. Animals continuously update this internal compass by temporally integrating angular head velocity relayed by vestibular, optic flow and motor efference signals. External cues, such as visual landmarks, are used to counteract cumulative integration errors.

Frightened bat rays produce a chemical cue to warn other rays of danger, a well-known anti-predator strategy for bony fish that has not been documented in cartilaginous fish until now. Oregon State University researchers found the behavior of bat rays changed when they received water flow from a tank where another bat ray was frightened by a mock predator, suggesting that a chemical disturbance cue was passed from one tank to the other.