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Echolocation calls of free-flying common vampire bats Desmodus rotundus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Chile

Annia Rodríguez-San Pedro & Juan Luis Allendes (2017). Echolocation calls of free-flying common vampire bats Desmodus rotundus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Chile. Bioacoustics, Volume 26 (2): 153 -160

 

Abstract: 

We recorded and characterized the echolocation calls emitted by the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus during foraging in natural habitats in Chile. Signal design typically shows multiple harmonics consisting of a brief quasi-constant frequency (QCF) component at the beginning of the pulse followed by a downward frequency modulated component. Calls are characterized by long durations (5.5 ms) and emitted as single pulses or in groups of 2–3 pulses at a repetition rate of 29 Hz. The higher frequency ranges (85–35 kHz) and the unusual QCF component that characterized multiharmonic signals of free-flying D. rotundus in Chile is a remarkable feature for acoustic identification with other Chilean bats.

Keywords: 

Acoustic identification, common vampire bat, Chile, vocalizations, desmodontinae