Data from: Bats perceptually weight prey cues across sensory systems when hunting in noise

Anthropogenic noise can interfere with environmental information processing and thereby reduce survival and reproduction. Receivers of signals and cues in particular depend on perceptual strategies to adjust to noisy conditions. We found that predators that hunt using prey sounds can reduce the negative impact of noise by making use of prey cues conveyed through additional sensory systems. In the presence of masking noise, but not in its absence, frog-eating bats preferred and were faster in attacking a robotic frog emitting multiple sensory cues. The behavioral changes induced by masking noise were accompanied by an increase in active localization through echolocation. Our findings help to reveal how animals can adapt to anthropogenic noise and have implications for the role of sensory ecology in driving species interactions.人为噪声(Anthropogenic noise)会干扰环境信息处理过程，进而降低生物的生存与繁殖成功率。接收信号与线索的个体尤其依赖感知策略以适应噪声环境。本研究发现，依靠猎物声响进行捕猎的捕食者，可通过利用额外感官系统传递的猎物线索，缓解噪声带来的负面影响。在存在掩蔽噪声(masking noise)的条件下（而非无噪声环境中），食蛙蝠更倾向于且更快地攻击能够释放多感官线索的机器蛙。掩蔽噪声诱导的行为变化，同时伴随蝙蝠通过回声定位(echolocation)开展主动定位的行为增强。本研究结果有助于揭示动物如何适应人为噪声，同时对感知生态学(sensory ecology)在驱动物种互作中的作用具有启示意义。