Transmitter and receiver of the low frequency horseshoe bat Rhinolophus paradoxolophus are functionally matched for fluttering target detection.

Flutter-detecting foragers require specific adaptations of the transmitter and the receiver of their echolocation systems to detect and evaluate flutter information in the echoes of potential prey. These adaptations include Doppler shift compensation (DSC), which keeps the echo frequency from targets ahead constant at a reference frequency (f), and an auditory fovea in the cochlea, which results in foveal areas in the hearing system with many sharply tuned neurons with best frequencies near f. So far, this functional match has been verified only for a very few key species, but is postulated for all flutter-detecting foragers.