FIU biologist Kirsten Bohn has made a career out of music, but she’s not a performer or a record producer. She’s a bat biologist.
She has devoted her career to studying these elusive creatures through their unique method of communication — echolocation. Her work caught the attention of the editors at Science magazine, one of the world’s leading outlets for scientific news, commentary and cutting-edge research. Correspondent Virgina Morell recently accompanied Bohn and her team on a trip to Uxmal, Mexico to document the adventures of “when the bat sings” for the magazine’s current issue. Home to a very large site of Mayan ruins, Bohn and her team listen in on the broad-eared bat (Nyctinomops laticaudatus) that calls Uxmal home.
“These bats are from the same family as Tadarida brasiliensis (Brazilian free-tailed bats),” Bohn said. “I have done a lot of research on Tadarida and they sing like birds. This project was aimed at determining if or how Nyctinomops sang too.”
Bohn is best known for identifying bat love songs — the method in which males use distinguishable sounds to attract females during mating season and in other social situations year-round.
While fun, her work has also resulted in major policy decisions affecting bats. Most recently, Bohn helped to secure endangered status for the Florida bonneted bat – the state’s rarest bat species. Other species require Bohn to travel to different parts of the world. She is currently in Honduras working on Brazilian free-tailed bat song dialects.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Bohn’s work on this important mammal featured in the top science journal,” said Suzanna M. Rose, Executive Director of the School of Integrated Science and Humanity. “Bats are a quarter of all the mammals on earth. Dr. Bohn’s research sheds light on how bats communicate through song and may lead to insights concerning the evolution of speech in humans.”
Learn more about Bohn’s research here.
“identifying bat love songs — the method in which males use distinguishable sounds to attract females”
Well, it is in Mexico, the land of the wonderful tradition of serenading. I think this is a wonderful project.