In situ novel environment assay reveals acoustic exploration as a repeatable behavioral response in migratory bats

Integrating information on species-specific sensory perception together with spatial activity provides a high-resolution understanding of how animals explore environments, yet frequently used exploration assays commonly ignore sensory acquisition as a measure for exploration. Echolocation is an active sensing system used by hundreds of mammal species, primarily bats. As echolocation call activity can be reliably quantified, bats present an excellent animal model to investigate intra-specific variation in environmental cue sampling. Here, we developed an in situ roost-like novel environment assay for tree-cave roosting bats. We repeatedly tested 52 individuals of the migratory bat species, Pipistrellus nathusii, across 24 hours, to examine the role of echolocation when crawling through a maze-type arena and test for consistent intra-specific variation in sensory-based exploration. We reveal a strong correlation between echolocation call activity and spatial activity. Moreover, we show that during the exploration of the maze, individuals consistently differed in spatial activity as well as echolocation call activity given their spatial activity, a behavioral response we term ‘acoustic exploration’. Acoustic exploration was correlated with other exploratory behaviors, but not with emergence latency. We here present a relevant new measure for exploration behavior and provide evidence for consistent (short-term) intra-specific variation in the level at which wild bats collect information from a novel environment

Data from: Migration strategy varies with novel environment response in common noctule bats

Here one can find the data files and code underlying the analysis of Schabacker et al concerning the 2019 field study on the relationship between exploration behaviour and migration in a partial migrant (Nyctalus noctula). Exploration behaviour was assessed using an in situ novel environment assay, while migration strategy was estimated using stable isotope analysis