Bats and all their complexities

Ellen Wetli
Module 5: Assignment 3
Laura Mandell
10-3-06

How has our understanding of bats changed since 1827 when Cuvier first wrote his animal textbook? Do scientists use metaphors / models based on technology to explain animal behavior? If technology changes, does or could that change affect the way we understand animal behavior that we don't understand?

As with most early discoveries in the fascinating world of technology, Cuvier’s theory of the sensory basis of obstacle avoidance by flying bats has evolved with time. In 1827, Georges Cuvier claimed that obstacles were detected by bats by “tactile receptors on the bat’s skin, especially the skin of the wing membranes.” Extensive testing has been done by Donald Griffin and Robert Galambos pertaining to how bats locate objects in flight. All of their research have proven that the “ear was the most important sense organ involved (in determining obstacles).” They even ran a couple tests proving that impairing the skin membrane on a bat’s wing does not affect is ability to locate obstacles in flight (as was assumed by Cuvier). So comparable to the world of technology, the world of science is always changing; theories are being hypothesized, tested, re-hypothesized, re-tested, etc. every day.
Today, we think of bats as creatures of the night that use a series of high-pitched supersonic sounds to determine the location and basic shape of an object. Scientists use several metaphors to better explain the complex process of how bats fly at night. I believe the only way to truly educate the public, who aren’t knowledgeable about the scientific jargon of the technical process, is through metaphors. People are more receptive to information that they can understand. This complex process has been most recently compared to sonar, radar, and echolocation. It has purposive properties of these three processes; however it is not any of these par excellence. It is described metaphorically through radar, and like all metaphors, it both hides and highlights aspects of the bat’s internal process. Saying bats literally have radar is not true because they do not. It hides the fact that some species of bats run into glass. Machines with radar can easily detect a glass object; therefore this aspect of a bat’s recognition of objects is not supported by the radar metaphor. In fact, Cuvier’s metaphor of impressions can actually highlight some aspects of a bat’s object location process which radar cannot. Perhaps, they do have some sensors in their skin which can receive air currents which would make an “impression” on them. This “impression” metaphor is comparable to print on a piece of paper. For example, when a typewriter slaps a letter on a piece of paper, it is leaving small dents or impressions on that piece of paper. Cuvier stated that the air currents undulating from an object leaves special “dents” in the bat’s sensitive membrane and therefore allows them to decipher what is in front of them. Cuvier explained that the reason some species of bats ran into glass was because they don’t have “as sensitive as membrane.” The radar metaphor also highlights many factors of the bat’s complex process. First, scientists describe how radar waves emit from a source, hit and object, and return to the source to inform it of the objects basic shape and size. Then, they state that “instead of..waves, he (the bat) sends out a staccato series of high-pitched cries.” As a person can see, the scientists are stating directly that a bat does not literally have radar, but they are highlighting the similarities, so we can better understand.
Even in general, scientists use metaphors and models based on technology to explain animal behavior. There are of course the well known metaphor of dolphins having “radars” to locate objects in the ocean. The chemical process required by lightening bugs to “light up” is often compared to the chemical process in a filament of a light bulb. Scientists refer to animals in a hot environment as having “internal air-conditioning” when they describe several methods that these animals use to keep cool. Even the “dancing” ritual of bees to communicate where pollen is to the rest of the hive can be metaphorically compared to the popular new technology of Dance Dance Revolution. In theory, the bees are watching a certain dance being done, then copying it to make sure they obtained the message correctly. We are doing the same thing when we copy the heart-racing moves of Dance Dance Revolution.
If technology changes (which of course it will we’re only in the 21st century) animal behavior that is misunderstood right now will be better understood through metaphors. Radar is a perfect example of this concept. It has not been around for very long, and just look at all the ways that scientists have explained complex processes by comparing them to radar. I believe animals are far more complicated than we actually think. Once we develop our technology further and understand concepts through machines, then we can use this information to discover whole new depths in the animal world.