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.人为噪音（Anthropogenic noise）会干扰生物对环境信息的处理过程，进而降低其生存与繁殖成功率。信号与线索的接收者尤其需要依赖感知策略，以适应噪声环境。本研究发现，依赖猎物发声开展捕猎的捕食者，可通过利用额外感官系统传递的猎物线索，减轻噪音带来的负面影响。在存在掩蔽噪音（masking noise）的情境下（而非无噪音环境中），食蛙蝠会更倾向于发起攻击，且攻击速度更快，其攻击目标为释放多感官线索的机器蛙。掩蔽噪音诱导产生的行为变化，伴随有通过回声定位（echolocation）开展主动定位的行为增强。本研究结果有助于揭示动物适应人为噪音的潜在机制，并可为感知生态学（sensory ecology）在驱动物种间互作中的作用提供理论启示。