Bats

Greater mouse-eared bats are preyed upon by owls, but the owls themselves likely avoid hornets, for fear of getting stung. New research suggests that the bats take advantage of this fact, by buzzing like hornets to keep owls at bay.The study is being led by Assoc. Prof. Danilo Russo, of Italy's University of Naples Federico II.Several years ago, he noticed that when he was handling greater mouse-eared bats that had been caught in mist nets, those bats produced a hornet-like buzzing sound. At the time, Russo and colleagues…

Greater mouse-eared bats. Scientists have discovered the first case of acoustic Batesian mimicry in mammals: greater mouse-eared bats imitate the buzzing sound of a stinging insect to deter predatory owls from eating them.In Batesian mimicry, a harmless species imitates a more dangerous one in an evolutionary “ruse” that protects the mimic from would-be predators. Now, researchers reporting today (May 9, 2022) in the journal Current Biology have discovered the first case of acoustic Batesian mimicry in mammals and one of…