ABSTRACT
Cognitive abilities in mammals have evolved as modifications of the neural substrate as a consequence of the constant interactions, in evolutionary terms, between individual and environment. Brain functions are optimized for their survival value and thus reflect the ecological demands of a species' specific environment. This chapter examines spatial cognition in a group of mammals whose success in food finding is especially dependent on their knowledge of space. Flower bats forage more efficiently in a situation where spatial information alone is sufficient to locate food resources as compared to an experimental situation where the evaluation of goal object features is necessary to find food. The evolution of spatial cognition in flower bats was influenced by the ecological demands of the nectar-feeding life style. Space use patterns reflect knowledge of energetic profitabilites which animals are able to map onto the spatial representation of the environment.
