The Confusing Evolution of Bat Echolocation
Here’s an article I wrote in response to a question I got here on tumblr, about why bats had such differently-shaped faces and whether or not echolocation had evolved more than once. I thought, ha! This should be an easy question with a relatively straightforward answer!
So today we will learn:
- how very wrong I was
- 4 gram bats who scream as loud as live rock concerts
- bitter evolutionary biologists
- how to trash Dollo’s law without even trying
- bat faces can’t possibly get any weirder than this (they do)
- why can’t you just settle on one method of yelling at the darkness, damnit
- an entire family can live in this moth’s primitive ear (but just one ear)
- what putting jelly on a bat’s nose does
- how friendly men on buses can destroy entire scientific assumptions with a few words
and more!
ourflagmeansbts
