Bat Senses

Most of the 1300 or so species of bats are small and feed at night. While their nocturnal nature means that about half of the known species have developed advanced hearing and calls for echolocation , some bat species rely more on their sense of smell. We’ll explore the sensory biology of bats in the U.S. National Science Foundation’s “Discovery Files”.
Much has been made of the bat’s use of ultrasonic sound for echolocation and the popular saying “blind as a bat” may or may not have any basis in reality, but what about a bat’s sense of smell?
Phyllostomid bats are a species that primarily feed on fruits and nectar. This diet causes them to rely heavily on odor for detecting potential foods.
Foregoing the commonly used metric of olfactory bulb size, NSF-Supported researchers at The University of Massachusetts Amherst measured 3 neuroanatomical features that have a more mechanistic link to function: Olfactory Sensory Neurons, Mitral cells and Glomeruli.
The researchers found no difference in number of Mitral cells, but greater numbers of olfactory sensory neurons and glomeruli between fruit eaters and their insect-eating relatives.
These findings give us a greater understanding of the use of smell in flying mammals and offer a reminder that we won’t be on the menu for these things that go bump in the night.
To hear more science and engineering news, including the researchers making it, subscribe to "NSF's Discovery Files" podcast.