Laryngeal echolocation in bats could have evolved following two scenarios: a single origin from a common ancestor or an independent acquisition inside the two clades Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera. Later, some members of Yinpterochiroptera possibly lost their ability to echolocate. In bats, the larynx produces vocalizations for communication and, in most species, for echolocation. Here, we describe how comparative chiropteran laryngeal morphology is a novel area of research that could improve the understanding of echolocation and may help resolve the evolutionary history of bats. This review provides morphological descriptions and comparisons of the bat larynx and bioacoustics interpretations. We discuss the importance of understanding: (1) laryngeal sound production so it may be linked with the evolution of the chiropteran auditory system; and (2) the evolution of laryngeal morphology to understand the ecological and behavioural aspects of bat biology. We find that a strong phylogenetic signal is potentially the main source explaining macroevolutionary variation in laryngeal form among bats. We predict that the three parameters of sound production in echolocation (frequency, intensity, and rate of calls) are independently modulated by different laryngeal components, but this hypothesis remains understudied in terms of species diversity.

蝙蝠的喉部回声定位可能是在两种情况下进化而来的：来自共同祖先的单一起源或在两个进化枝 Yinpterochiroptera 和 Yangochiroptera 内的独立获得。后来，翼手龙的一些成员可能失去了回声定位的能力。在蝙蝠中，喉部发出声音以进行交流，在大多数物种中，喉部发出声音以进行回声定位。在这里，我们描述了比较翼手类喉部形态如何成为一个新的研究领域，可以提高对回声定位的理解，并可能有助于解决蝙蝠的进化史。这篇综述提供了蝙蝠喉部的形态学描述和比较以及生物声学解释。我们讨论了理解的重要性：（1）喉音的产生，因此它可能与翼手类听觉系统的进化有关；(2) 喉部形态的演变，以了解蝙蝠生物学的生态和行为方面。我们发现强烈的系统发育信号可能是解释蝙蝠喉部形态宏观进化变异的主要来源。我们预测回声定位中声音产生的三个参数（频率、强度和呼叫率）由不同的喉部组件独立调制，但这一假设在物种多样性方面仍未得到充分研究。