Megabat evolved early in the lineage of chiropterans. Although echolocation was later lost in family Pteropodidae, bats in the genus "Rousettus" are capable of primitive echolocation through clicking their tongues, and some species have been shown to create clicks similar to those of echolocating bats using their wings. Both echolocation and flight are energetically expensive processes. The nature of the flight and echolocation mechanism of bats allows for creation of echolocation pulses with minimal energy use. Energetic coupling of these two processes is thought to have allowed for both energetically expensive processes to evolve in bats. The loss of echolocation may
Animal echolocation basic level, echolocation is based on the neural anatomy of auditory brain circuitry. In essence, ascending brain pathways in the brain stem allow the brain to calculate the difference between the two ears to very small fractions of a second. Microbats use echolocation to navigate and forage, often in total darkness. They generally emerge from their roosts in caves, attics, or trees at dusk and hunt for insects into the night. Their use of echolocation allows them to occupy a niche where there are often many insects (that come out at night since there are fewer predators then), less competition