supMat-strategicPursuit.zip from Strategic predatory pursuit of the stealthy, highly manoeuvrable, slow flying bat <i>Corynorhinus townsendii</i>

A predator's capacity to catch prey depends on its ability to navigate its environment in response to prey movements or escape behaviour. In predator–prey interactions that involve an active chase, pursuit behaviour can be studied as the collection of rules that dictate how a predator should steer to capture prey. It remains unclear how variable this behaviour is within and across species since most studies have detailed the pursuit behaviour of high-speed, open-area foragers. In this study, we analyse the pursuit behaviour in 44 successful captures by <i>Corynorhinus townsendii</i>, Townsend's big-eared bat (<i>n</i> = 4). This species forages close to vegetation using slow and highly manoeuvrable flight, which contrasts with the locomotor capabilities and feeding ecologies of other taxa studied to date. Our results indicate that this species relies on an initial stealthy approach, which is generally sufficient to capture prey (32 out of 44 trials). In cases where the initial approach is not sufficient to perform a capture attempt (12 out of 44 trials), <i>C. townsendii</i> continues its pursuit by reacting to prey movements in a manner best modelled with a combination of pure pursuit, or following prey directly, and proportional navigation, or moving to an interception point.捕食者的猎物捕获能力，取决于其响应猎物移动或逃逸行为，在所处环境中完成导航飞行的能力。在涉及主动追击的捕食者-猎物互动场景中，追击行为可被视为一系列规则的集合，这些规则规定了捕食者应如何调整飞行方向以捕获猎物。目前学界尚不清楚该行为在物种内部及跨物种间的变异程度，因绝大多数现有研究仅详细描述了高速开阔区域觅食类群的追击行为。 本研究针对汤森大耳蝠（*Corynorhinus townsendii*，样本量n=4）的44次成功捕猎事件中的追击行为展开分析。该物种依赖缓慢且高机动性的飞行在植被周边觅食，这与迄今已被研究的其他类群的运动能力及摄食生态均存在显著差异。 研究结果显示，该物种会先采取隐蔽接近策略，这一策略通常足以成功捕获猎物（44次尝试中有32次成功）。当初始接近不足以发起捕获尝试时（44次尝试中有12次），汤森大耳蝠会继续追击，通过响应猎物的移动调整飞行路径，其行为模式最佳拟合于纯追踪（pure pursuit，即直接跟随猎物移动）与比例导航（proportional navigation，即移动至拦截点）的结合模型。