noun

• The location of objects by reflected sound, in particular that used by animals such as dolphins and bats.

  ‘Many odontocetes can navigate by echolocation, producing sound waves using a complex system of nasal sacs and passages, and using the echoes to navigate.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Like bats, dolphins use echolocation, an internal sonar system, to help them navigate, avoid predators and find food.’
  • ‘The rivers used by most platanistids are muddy, and these animals probably rely on echolocation more than vision to locate their prey.’
  • ‘Flying foxes use their excellent eyesight more than echolocation, or bouncing sounds, to locate their food at night.’
  • ‘This structure may help focus the sound emitted by these animals in echolocation and feeding.’
  • ‘But the whale's skull indicates it couldn't produce ultrasonic signals - meaning it didn't use sonar or echolocation, like some dolphins and certain whales do today.’
  • ‘You can imagine, for instance, the way certain animals use echolocation to find a target or source.’
  • ‘Research suggests that noise from whale watching boats may interfere with the animals' echolocation and communication, making it more difficult for them to hunt for fish.’
  • ‘It's been known since the 1930s, with the discovery of bat echolocation, that animals can produce pitches too high for human hearing.’
  • ‘Bats are not the only animals that use echolocation.’
  • ‘But their hearing and echolocation is the greatest almost of any animal.’
  • ‘Sharks have an acute electric sense with which they can detect prey, dolphins can detect characteristics of objects from a distance using ultrasonic echolocation, and crabs perceive water depth by sensing water pressure.’
  • ‘Some bats, for example, which navigate by echolocation, both emit and hear sounds with frequencies of more than 100 kHz.’
  • ‘Toothed whales, such as dolphins, rely on this auditory sense when hunting prey by echolocation.’
  • ‘For example, echolocation by bats and toothed whales is dependent on the sound transmission properties of air and water that can change with temperature or density.’
  • ‘Horseshoe bats have a special kind of echolocation (termed ‘high duty cycle’), which allows them to use the Doppler shift to detect the flutter of moth wings.’
  • ‘An additional explanation for the absence of either mode in Microchiroptera is their reliance on echolocation, and their need to maintain regular sensory input.’
  • ‘Moths typically go into erratic dives when they sense that they have been detected by nearby bats using echolocation.’