Top 10 Sonic Super Animals

One of the amazing talents some animals have is "echolocation": using their sound to "see" other animals and obstacles. Here are the most talented sonic searchers...

1. Bottlenose Dolphin

Sound Frequency - Varied

Range - Exceptional

Dolphins and whales use echolocation (their biological sonar) to find food and chat with one another. You'll have heard them on nature documentaries with their series of whistles and clicks. When they make a sound, it bounces back through their surroundings and is analyzed by the their brain. How cool is that?!

2. Killer Whale

Sound Frequency -Varied

Range - Exceptional

3. Greater Horseshoe Bat (Microbat)

Sound Frequency -Varied

Range - Broad to detailed

4. Egyptian Fruit Bat (Megabat)

Sound Frequency -Varied

Range - Broad to detailed

Think that all bats use echolocation? They don't! There are two kinds of bats: microbats and megabats. All microbats echolocate but of the megabats, just the Egyptian Fruit Bat has this amazing skill. It only eats fruit, but does use the skill for navigation and communication.

5. Porpoise

Sound Frequency - Narrowband

Range - Directional/exact

6. Pygmy Sperm Whale

Sound Frequency - Narrowband

Range - Directional/exact

7. Oilbird

Sound Frequency - Limited

Range - Basic

8. Swiftlet Bird

Sound Frequency - Limited

Range - Basic

9. Tenrec

Sound Frequency - Low

Range - Very basic

10. Shrew

Sound Frequency - Low

Range - Very basic