Fine-tuned bats and 4-wheel drive elephants

SONIC BOON: Hungry bats can adjust their sonar when hunting in a thick forest - a bit like fine-tuning a radio, say scientists. The mammals use echolocation, bouncing untrsonic sounds off their surroundings as they fly in the dark, to avoid obstacles and track prey. When in a crowded environment with more obstacles, they alter the frequency of each sound so no two returning echoes are the same, according to the study in Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences. 'They've evolved this to fly in clutter,' said researched Prof James Simmons.

4X4 BEAST: Elephants stop and start just like 4X4 'Chelsea tractors', researchers say. The largest living land animals - which can reach 4m (13ft) and weight 8.5 tonnes - use both sets of front and hind legs for speeding up and slowing down. 'Most four-legged animals use their back legs to accelerate and front ones to slow down,' said Dr John Hutchinson of the Royal Veterinary College in London. 'But elephants save energy by using their forelimbs and hindlimbs in both braking and propulsive roles, just as in four-wheel-drive vehicles.'

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