Recent studies indicate some odontocetes may produce echolocation beams with a dual-lobed vertical structure. The shape of the odontocete echolocation beam was further investigated in a false killer whale performing an echolocation discrimination task. Clicks were recorded with an array of 16 hydrophones and frequency-dependent amplitude plots were constructed to assess beam shape. The majority of the echolocation clicks were single-lobed in structure with most energy located between 20 and 80 kHz. These data indicate the false killer whale does not produce a dual-lobed structure, as has been shown in bottlenose dolphins, which may be a function of lowered frequencies in the emitted signal due to hearing loss.
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.© 2012 Acoustical Society of America.
2012
Acoustical Society of America
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