https://phys.org/news/2025-04-palatable-poisonous-scientists-reveal-prey.html Phys.org Topics * Week's top * Latest news * Unread news * Subscribe [ ] Science X Account [ ] [ ] [*] Remember me Sign In Click here to sign in with or Forget Password? Not a member? Sign up Learn more * Nanotechnology * Physics * Earth * Astronomy & Space * Chemistry * Biology * Other Sciences * Medical Xpress Medicine * Tech Xplore Technology [INS::INS] * * share this! * 29 * Tweet * Share * Email 1. Home 2. Biology 3. Plants & Animals 1. Home 2. Biology 3. Ecology * * * --------------------------------------------------------------------- April 29, 2025 The GIST Editors' notes This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread Palatable versus poisonous: Scientists reveal how bats learn to identify which prey is safe to eat by Smithsonian Palatable versus poisonous: Eavesdropping bats must learn to identify which prey is safe to eat A fringe-lipped bat, Trachops cirrhosus, approaches a Fitzinger's robber frog, Craugastor fitzingeri, in Panama. This species of bat eavesdrops on the mating calls that male frogs produce to attract females, and uses these frog calls to detect, assess and localize its prey. Young bats do not share the same responses to frog mating calls that adults do; juveniles must acquire the ability to discriminate which frog calls signify palatable and poisonous prey. Credit: Merlin Tuttle Scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) found that the fringe-lipped bat, known to eavesdrop on frog and toad mating calls to find its prey, learns to distinguish between palatable and unpalatable frogs and toads through experience. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, provide the first evidence that eavesdropping predators fine-tune their hunting cues over the course of their development. To source their food, some predators eavesdrop on calls emitted by prey. Fringe-lipped bats, which range from Panama to Brazil, are some of the most skilled eavesdroppers in the world. They are attuned to the sexual advertisement calls of over a dozen frog and toad species that live in their habitat. If a fringe-lipped bat hears a call, it will fly toward the sound within seconds. However, just like some incoming calls on people's cell phones originate from scammers, not every frog or toad call guarantees a safe and healthy meal--if a frog is too large or emits a toxin, the prey can pose a danger to the bat. A fringe-lipped bat, Trachops cirrhosus, responds to the calls of the tungara frog, Engystomops pustulosus, one of its preferred prey species. First, the bat hears the call of a single male tungara frog, producing a complex call (a 'whine' plus multiple 'chucks'.) Then, the bat hears the cacophony of a large tungara frog chorus, with many male tungara frogs acoustically competing for females at once. Credit: Joseph See Fringe-lipped bats have adapted to this risk by developing their own caller ID; if they hear a call from an unpalatable frog or toad, they save their time and energy by not responding. But frog and toad calls do not come with automatic "spam" warnings like phone calls do, and until now, scientists did not know where the fringe-lipped bat's ability to distinguish between palatable and unpalatable frogs came from. "It's truly remarkable that these bats hunt using the calls of an entirely different group of animals in the first place, and we have wondered for a long time how these bats acquire this unusual skill," said Logan James, STRI postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the study. [INS::INS] "We knew from previous research that these bats are very clever and can learn during experiments, but we had not tested whether their aptitude for learning had a role in fine-tuning their responses to sound cues from their natural prey." A fringe-lipped bat, Trachops cirrhosus, hears a male tungara frog, Engystomops pustulosus, producing an advertisement call to attract a mate. The bat approaches the calling frog, but the frog detects it in time, stops calling and ducks, successfully avoiding the eavesdropping predator. Credit: Joseph See The research team tested how individual, wild-caught adult and juvenile fringe-lipped bats responded to mating call recordings of 15 local frog and toad species. These species included frogs known to be palatable, toxic or too large to handle. First, the team confirmed previous studies showing that adult bats responded more strongly to palatable versus unpalatable frogs and toads. Yet, as the team discovered, juvenile bats did not make the same distinctions. On average, juvenile bats did not respond differently to frogs and toads based on their palatability. Looking more closely, the team found that juveniles could identify larger prey by their calls, just like adults can, but they could not distinguish the toxic species. This indicates that juveniles tend to respond to body size early on, but they learn to identify toxic species over time. A fringe-lipped bat, Trachops cirrhosus, returns to its perch after a successful hunt, and consumes its prey, a tungara frog, Engystomops pustulosus.. Credit: Joseph See "We have studied this fascinating species for years, and in many aspects, we understand its behavior very well," said Rachel Page, staff scientist at STRI, and one of the study's senior authors. "But this was the first time we had ever tested juvenile bats. It was so interesting to see that, like human children, young bats needed time and experience to hone their discrimination skills." Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter--daily or weekly. [ ] Subscribe This study is the first to explicitly compare eavesdropping responses of generalist predators at different ages. But it is likely that this strategy is widespread across the animal kingdom, and fringe-lipped bats are not the only predators that need to learn how to distinguish palatable prey. Ultimately, this study highlights the critical role of experience in early life in shaping predatory behaviors in the wild. "This study highlights the power of development and learning to shape eavesdropping behavior, an insight that may extend far beyond bats to other predators also navigating complex sensory environments," said Ximena Bernal, research associate at STRI, professor at Purdue University and one of the study's senior authors. "We hope it will inspire other scientists to examine how early experience modulates predator-foraging decisions." More information: The ontogeny of decision-making in an eavesdropping predator, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2025.0450. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi ... .1098/rspb.2025.0450 Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Provided by Smithsonian Citation: Palatable versus poisonous: Scientists reveal how bats learn to identify which prey is safe to eat (2025, April 29) retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://phys.org/news/ 2025-04-palatable-poisonous-scientists-reveal-prey.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. 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Juvenile bats do not distinguish between palatable and unpalatable prey, while adults do, indicating that the ability to identify safe prey is acquired over time and shaped by learning during development. This summary was automatically generated using LLM. Full disclaimer Let us know if there is a problem with our content Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form. For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines). Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request [-- please select one -- ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Your message to the editors [ ] Your email (optional, only if you'd like a response) [ ] Send Feedback Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors. Your feedback is important to us. 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