How bats exit a crowded colony when relying on echolocation only - a modeling approach

Abstract

Bats face a complex navigation challenge when emerging from densely populated roosts, where vast numbers take off at once in dark, confined spaces. Each bat must avoid collisions with walls and conspecifics while locating the exit, all amidst overlapping acoustic signals. This crowded environment creates the risk of acoustic jamming, in which the calls of neighboring bats interfere with echo detection, potentially obscuring vital information. Despite these challenges, bats navigate these conditions with remarkable success. Although bats have access to multiple sensory cues, here we focused on whether echolocation alone could provide sufficient information for orientation under such high-interference conditions. To explore whether and how they manage this challenge, we developed a sensorimotor model that mimics the bats echolocation behavior under high-density conditions. Our model suggests that the problem of acoustic jamming may be less severe than previously assumed. Frequent calls with short inter-pulse intervals (IPI) increase the sensory input flow, allowing integration of echoic information across multiple calls. When combined with simple movement-guidance strategies--such as following walls and avoiding nearby obstacles--this accumulated information enables effective navigation in dense acoustic environments. Together, these findings demonstrate a plausible mechanism by which bats may overcome acoustic interference and underscore the role of signal redundancy in supporting robust echolocation-based navigation. Beyond advancing our understanding of bat behavior, they also offer valuable insights for swarm robotics and collective movement in complex environments.