Doppler shift compensation performance in across experimental paradigms.

A central aim of neuroethological research is to discover the mechanisms of natural behaviors in controlled laboratory studies. This goal, however, comes with challenges, namely the selection of experimental paradigms that allow full expression of natural behaviors. Here, we explore this problem in echolocating bats that evolved Doppler shift compensation (DSC) of sonar vocalizations to yield close matching between echo frequency and hearing sensitivity. We ask if behavioral tasks influence the precision of DSC in Pratt's roundleaf bat, , in three classic laboratory paradigms evoking audio-vocal adjustments: Stationary bats listening to echo playbacks, bats transported on a moving pendulum, and bats flying freely. We found that experimental conditions had a strong influence on the expression of the audiovocal frequency adjustments in bats. exhibited robust DSC in both free-flying and moving-pendulum experiments but did not exhibit consistent audiovocal adjustments in echo playback experiments. featured a maximum compensation magnitude of 87% and a compensation precision of 0.27% in the free flight experiment. Interestingly, in the moving pendulum experiment displayed surprisingly high-precision DSC, with an 84% maximum compensation magnitude and a 0.27% compensation precision. Such DSC performance places among the bat species exhibiting the most precise audio-vocal control of echo frequency. These data support the emerging view that Hipposiderid bats have a high-precision DSC system and highlight the importance of selecting experimental paradigms that yield the expression of robust natural behaviors.