Final answer:
Bats use their advanced sense of hearing through echolocation to detect small objects like insects, making 'hearing' the correct answer to the student's question.
Step-by-step explanation:
Bats primarily use their sense of hearing to detect small objects like insects. They have evolved an advanced system called echolocation, which involves emitting high-frequency sounds and listening for the echoes that bounce back from objects in their environment. The echoes provide bats with a detailed acoustic picture that allows them to identify and catch their prey even in complete darkness.
Taste, smell, and sight are important senses for many animals, but for bats, especially when they are on the hunt at night, the ability to hear and process complex auditory information is crucial. The high-frequency sounds bats emit are in the ultrasonic range, which humans cannot hear. A bat's echolocation abilities allow it to detect objects with remarkable precision, sometimes as close as 1.00 millisecond apart in echo detection, according to studies.
Therefore, the correct answer to the question is b) Hearing.