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Data from: Isotopic and dietary niches as indicators for resource partitioning in the gleaner bats M. bechsteinii, M. nattereri, and P. auritus
The n-dimensional ecological niche summarizes all living requirements of a species. According to the competition and niche theory, co-occurring species have to differ in at least one dimension to live in stable coexistence. Measuring the overall ecological niche within natural ecosystems is probably impossible but methods that describe several dimensions at once like the isotopic niche are good approximations. However, the impact of each factor contributing to the isotopic niche might be difficult to estimate. The dietary niche, as one part of the isotopic niche, can be examined with high resolution using molecular techniques. In this study we aimed to improve our understanding of species coexistence. We outlined the importance of the isotopic and dietary niches in the context of resource partitioning using the bat species M. bechsteinii, M. nattereri, and P. auritus of the gleaner guild as examples. The dietary and isotopic niches were estimated with stable isotope analysis and molecular fecal analysis. We tested (i) how distinct the occupied dietary niches of members of the same guild are and (ii) how similar the dietary and isotopic niches are to each other. While the inter-specific overlap was high for the dietary niche, no overlap could be observed for the isotopic niche. In general, the isotopic niche can describe a more complete picture of the ecological niche, while the dietary niche provides highly detailed information. The combination of both niches might advance our understanding of stable species coexistences.
Data from: What you need is what you eat? Prey selection by the bat Myotis daubentonii
Optimal foraging theory predicts that predators are selective when faced with abundant prey, but become less picky when prey gets sparse. Insectivorous bats in temperate regions are faced with the challenge of building up fat reserves vital for hibernation during a period of decreasing arthropod abundances. According to optimal foraging theory, prehibernating bats should adopt a less selective feeding behaviour – yet empirical studies have revealed many apparently generalized species to be composed of specialist individuals. Targeting the diet of the bat Myotis daubentonii, we used a combination of molecular techniques to test for seasonal changes in prey selectivity and individual-level variation in prey preferences. DNA metabarcoding was used to characterize both the prey contents of bat droppings and the insect community available as prey. To test for dietary differences among M. daubentonii individuals, we used ten microsatellite loci to assign droppings to individual bats. The comparison between consumed and available prey revealed a preference for certain prey items regardless of availability. Nonbiting midges (Chironomidae) remained the most highly consumed prey at all times, despite a significant increase in the availability of black flies (Simuliidae) towards the end of the season. The bats sampled showed no evidence of individual specialization in dietary preferences. Overall, our approach offers little support for optimal foraging theory. Thus, it shows how novel combinations of genetic markers can be used to test general theory, targeting patterns at both the level of prey communities and individual predators.
Data from: Speciation dynamics during the global radiation of extant bats
Species richness varies widely across extant clades, but the causes of this variation remain poorly understood. We investigate the role of diversification rate heterogeneity in shaping patterns of diversity across families of extant bats. To provide a robust framework for macroevolutionary inference, we assemble a time-calibrated, species-level phylogeny using a supermatrix of mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data. We analyze the phylogeny using a Bayesian method for modeling complex evolutionary dynamics. Surprisingly, we find that variation in family richness can largely be explained without invoking heterogeneous diversification dynamics. We document only a single well-supported shift in diversification dynamics across bats, occurring at the base of the subfamily Stenodermatinae. Bat diversity is phylogenetically imbalanced, but - contrary to previous hypotheses - this pattern is unexplained by any simple patterns of diversification rate heterogeneity. This discordance may indicate that diversification dynamics are more complex than can be captured using the statistical tools available for modeling data at this scale. We infer that bats as a whole are almost entirely united into one macroevolutionary cohort, with decelerating speciation through time. There is also a significant relationship between clade age and richness, suggesting that global bat diversity may still be expanding.
Data from: Transition from conventional to light-emitting diode street lighting changes activity of urban bats
Light pollution is rapidly increasing and can have deleterious effects on biodiversity, yet light types differ in their effect on wildlife. Among the light types used for street lamps, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are expected to become globally predominant within the next few years. In a large-scale field experiment, we recorded bat activity at 46 street lights for 12 nights each and investigated how the widespread replacement of conventional illuminants by LEDs affects urban bats: we compared bat activity at municipal mercury vapour (MV) street lamps that were replaced by LEDs with control sites that were not changed. Pipistrellus pipistrellus was the most frequently recorded species; it was 45% less active at LEDs than at MV street lamps, but the activity did not depend on illuminance level. Light type did not affect the activity of Pipistrellus nathusii, Pipistrellus pygmaeus or bats in the Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio (NEV) group, yet the activity of P. nathusii increased with illuminance level. Bats of the genus Myotis increased activity 4·5-fold at LEDs compared with MV lights, but illuminance level had no effect. Decreased activity of P. pipistrellus, which are considered light tolerant, probably paralleled insect densities around lights. Further, our results suggest that LEDs may be less repelling for light-averse Myotis spp. than MV lights. Accordingly, the transition from conventional lighting techniques to LEDs may greatly alter the anthropogenic impact of artificial light on urban bats and might eventually affect the resilience of urban bat populations. Synthesis and applications. At light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the competitive advantage – the exclusive ability to forage on insect aggregations at lights – is reduced for light-tolerant bats. Thus, the global spread of LED street lamps might lead to a more natural level of competition between light-tolerant and light-averse bats. This effect could be reinforced if the potential advantages of LEDs over conventional illuminants are applied in practice: choice of spectra with relatively little energy in the short wavelength range; reduced spillover by precisely directing light; dimming during low human activity times; and control by motion sensors. Yet, the potential benefits of LEDs could be negated if low costs foster an overall increase in artificial lighting.
Data from: The cutaneous lipid composition of bat wing and tail membranes: a case of convergent evolution with birds
The water vapour permeability barrier of mammals and birds resides in the stratum corneum (SC), the outermost layer of the epidermis. The molar ratio and molecular arrangement of lipid classes in the SC determine the integrity of this barrier. Increased chain length and polarity of ceramides, the most abundant lipid class in mammalian SC, contribute to tighter packing and thus to reduced cutaneous evaporative water loss (CEWL). However, tighter lipid packing also causes low SC hydration, making it brittle, whereas high hydration softens the skin at the cost of increasing CEWL. Cerebrosides are not present in the mammalian SC; their pathological accumulation occurs in Gaucher's disease, which leads to a dramatic increase in CEWL. However, cerebrosides occur normally in the SC of birds. We tested the hypothesis that cerebrosides are also present in the SC of bats, because they are probably necessary to confer pliability to the skin, a quality needed for flight. We examined the SC lipid composition of four sympatric bat species and found that, as in birds, their SC has substantial cerebroside contents, not associated with a pathological state, indicating convergent evolution between bats and birds.
Data from: Do riparian forest strips in modified forest landscapes aid in conserving bat diversity?
Agricultural practices lead to losses of natural resources and biodiversity. Maintaining forests alongside streams (riparian forest strips) has been used as a mechanism to minimize the impact of clearing for agriculture on biodiversity. To test the contribution of riparian forest strips to conserve biodiversity in production landscapes, we selected bats as a biodiversity model system and examined two dimensions of diversity: taxonomic and functional. We compared bat diversity and composition in forest, with and without stream habitat, and in narrow forest riparian strips surrounded by areas cleared for agriculture. We tested the hypothesis that riparian forest strips provide potential conservation value by providing habitat and serving as movement corridors for forest bat species. Riparian forest strips maintained 75% of the bat species registered in forested habitats. We found assemblage in sites with riparian forest strips were dominated by a few species with high abundance and included several species with low abundance. Bat species assemblage was more similar between sites with streams than between those sites to forests without stream habitat. These results highlight the importance of stream habitat in predicting presence of bat species. We registered similar number of guilds between forest sites and riparian forest strips sites. Relative to matrix habitats, stream and edge habitats in riparian forest strips sites were functionally more diverse, supporting our hypothesis about the potential conservation value of riparian forest strips. Results from this study suggest that maintaining riparian forest strips within cleared areas for agricultural areas help conserve the taxonomic and functional diversity of bats. Also, it provides basic data to evaluate the efficacy of maintaining these landscape features for mitigating impacts of agricultural development on biodiversity. However, we caution that riparian forest strips alone are not sufficient for biodiversity maintenance; their value depend on maintenance of larger forest areas in their vicinity.
Data from: Subtle changes in elevation shift bat-assemblage structure in Central Amazonia
The distribution patterns of animal species at local scales have been explained by direct influences of vegetation structure, topography, food distribution and availability. However, these variables can also interact and operate indirectly on the distribution of species. Here, we examined the direct and indirect effects of food availability (fruits and insects), vegetation clutter and elevation in structuring phyllostomid-bat assemblages in a continuous terra firme forest in Central Amazonia. Bats were captured in 49 plots over 25-km² of continuous forest. We captured 1138 bats belonging to 52 species with 7056 nethours of effort. Terrain elevation was the strongest predictor of species and guild compositions, and of bat abundance. However, changes in elevation were associated with changes in vegetation clutter, and availability of fruits and insects consumed by bats, which are likely to have had direct effects on bat assemblages. Frugivorous-bat composition was more influenced by availability of food-providing plants, while gleaning-animalivore composition was more influenced by the structural complexity of the vegetation. Although probably not causal, terrain elevation may be a reliable predictor of bat-assemblage structure at local scales in other regions. In situations where it is not possible to collect local variables, terrain elevation can substitute other variables, such as vegetation structure, and availability of fruits and insects.
Data from: Assessing niche partitioning of co-occurring sibling bat species by DNA metabarcoding
Niche partitioning through foraging is a mechanism likely involved in facilitating the coexistence of ecologically similar and co-occurring animal species by separating their use of resources. Yet, this mechanism is not well understood in flying insectivorous animals. This is particularly true of bats, where many ecologically similar or cryptic species coexist. The detailed analysis of the foraging niche in sympatric, cryptic sibling species provides an excellent framework to disentangle the role of specific niche factors likely involved in facilitating coexistence. We used DNA metabarcoding to determine the prey species consumed by a population of sympatric sibling Rhinolophus euryale and R. mehelyi whose use of habitat in both sympatric and allopatric ranges has been well established through radio tracking. Although some subtle dietary differences exist in prey species composition, the diet of both bats greatly overlapped (Ojk = 0.83) due to the consumption of the same common and widespread moths. Those dietary differences we did detect might be related to divergences in prey availabilities among foraging habitats, which prior radio tracking on the same population showed are differentially used and selected when both species co-occur. This minor dietary segregation in sympatry may be the result of foraging on the same prey-types and could contribute to reduce potential competitive interactions (e.g. for prey, acoustic space). Our results highlight the need to evaluate the spatial niche dimension in mediating the co-occurrence of similar insectivorous bat species, a niche factor likely involved in processes of bat species coexistence.
Data from: Sound amplification by means of a horn-like roosting structure in Spix's disc-winged bat
While sound is a signal modality widely used by many animals, it is very susceptible to attenuation, hampering effective long-distance communication. A strategy to minimize sound attenuation that has been historically used by humans is to use acoustic horns; to date, no other animal is known to use a similar structure to increase sound intensity. Here, we describe how the use of a roosting structure that resembles an acoustic horn (the tapered tubes that form when new leaves of plants such as Heliconia or Calathea species start to unfurl) increases sound amplification of the incoming and outgoing social calls used by Spix's disc-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) to locate roosts and group members. Our results indicate that incoming calls are significantly amplified as a result of sound waves being increasingly compressed as they move into the narrow end of the leaf. Outgoing calls were faintly amplified, probably as a result of increased sound directionality. Both types of call, however, experienced significant sound distortion, which might explain the patterns of signal recognition previously observed in behavioural experiments. Our study provides the first evidence of the potential role that a roost can play in facilitating acoustic communication in bats.
FIGURE 4. A–B. Ascodipteron species A in Investigation of taxonomically important morphological features of endoparasitic bat flies of the subfamily Ascodipterinae (Diptera: Streblidae) by scanning electron microscopy
FIGURE 4. A–B. Ascodipteron species A (ex. R. paradoxalophus), Tuyen Province, Vietnam. A. Overview of microvillilike organelles on subdermal surface of neosome. B. Enlargement of A. C– D. Ascodipteron emballonurae (ex. H. pomona), Quang Nam, Vietnam. C. Overview of microvillilike organelles on subdermal surface of neosome. D. Enlargement of C. E–F. Ascodipteron species A (ex. R. paradoxalophus), Tuyen Province, Vietnam. E. Anus, cerci, and genital orifice. F. Cercus, enlargement. Scale in microns.
FIGURE 5. A–D. Ascodipteron species A in Investigation of taxonomically important morphological features of endoparasitic bat flies of the subfamily Ascodipterinae (Diptera: Streblidae) by scanning electron microscopy
FIGURE 5. A–D. Ascodipteron species A (ex. H. pomona), larva (prepupa), Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. A. Ventroposterior aspect. B. Ventral spiracle (enlargement). C. Dorsoposterior aspect. D. Dorsal and ventral spiracles (enlargement). Abbreviations: ao, anal orifice; dsp, dorsal spiracle; vsp, ventral spiracle. Scale in microns.
FIGURE 3. A–B in Investigation of taxonomically important morphological features of endoparasitic bat flies of the subfamily Ascodipterinae (Diptera: Streblidae) by scanning electron microscopy
FIGURE 3. A–B. Ascodipteron emballonurae (ex. H. pomona), Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. A. Genital aperture, lateral view, arrows indicate spiracles. B. Genital aperture, lateral view, enlargement. C–D. Ascodipteron species A (ex. R. paradoxalophus), Tuyen Province, Vietnam. C. Genital aperture (arrow), lateral view. D. Genital aperture, lateral view, enlargement. E–F. Ascodipteron emballonurae (ex. H. pomona), spiracles, Quang Nam, Vietnam. E. Dorsal view. F. Lateral view. Abbreviations: sp5, sp6, sp7, respective numbered terminal spiracles. Scale in microns.
FIGURE 2. A–E in Investigation of taxonomically important morphological features of endoparasitic bat flies of the subfamily Ascodipterinae (Diptera: Streblidae) by scanning electron microscopy
FIGURE 2. A–E. Undescribed genus of Ascodipterinae (ex. R. affinis), Tuyen Province, Vietnam (A–B, D–E), and (ex. R. macrotis) Guangxi Province, China (C). A. Head and thorax, oblique lateral view. B. Labial theca, dorsal view. C. Labial theca, dorsal view (image by light microscopy). D. Labial theca, anterior view. E. Labial theca, anteroventral view. Abbreviation: lg, labial gutter. Scale in microns.
FIGURE 1. A–C. Ascodipteron species A in Investigation of taxonomically important morphological features of endoparasitic bat flies of the subfamily Ascodipterinae (Diptera: Streblidae) by scanning electron microscopy
FIGURE 1. A–C. Ascodipteron species A (ex. R. paradoxalophus), Tuyen Province, Vietnam. A. Head and thorax, dorsal view. Uppermost arrow indicates striations of underlying muscles of dorsal cheliceral blades. B. Head, lateral view. Arrows indicate striations of underlying muscles of dorsal and ventral cheliceral blades. C. Head, anterior view. Arrow indicates striations of ventral cheliceral blades. Abbreviations: ant, antenna; fr, frons; g, gena; lt, labial theca; lv, lateral vertex; sc, scutum. Scale in microns.
Phylogeny and systematics of Crescentieae (Bignoniaceae), a Neotropical clade of cauliflorous and bat-pollinated trees
<p>The tribe Crescentieae includes <i>Amphitecna</i> (21 species), <i>Crescentia </i>(six species), and <i>Parmentiera</i> (10 species), three genera of understory trees with a center of diversity in Central America and a small number of species in the Antilles and northern South America. Species in Crescentieae are united by their fleshy, indehiscent fruit and cauliflorous, bat-pollinated flowers. The large fruits are presumed to have evolved to be mammal dispersed, although water dispersal is known to occur. To lay a foundation for examining morphological, ecological, and biogeographic patterns within the tribe, we inferred the phylogeny for Crescentieae using both chloroplast (<i>ndhF</i>, <i>trnL-F</i>) and nuclear markers (PepC, ITS). The most recent circumscription of Crescentieae, containing <i>Amphitecna</i>, <i>Crescentia</i>, and <i>Parmentiera</i> is supported by our phylogenetic results. Likewise, the sister relationship between Crescentieae and the Antillean-endemic <i>Spirotecoma</i> is also corroborated by our findings. This relationship implies the evolution of fleshy and indehiscent fruits from dry and dehiscent ones, as well as the evolution of bat pollination from insect pollination. Fruits and seeds from species in Crescentieae are consumed by humans, ungulates, birds, and fish.</p>
FIGURE 4 in Type specimens of bats (Chiroptera: Mammalia) in the collections of the Museum f r Naturkunde, Berlin
FIGURE 4. Pteronotus macleayi (upper part of figure): margin of nostril smooth, with rectangular indentation between nostrils [arrow]; Pteronotus quadridens (lower part of figure): margin of nostril lobulate, without rectangular indentation between nostrils.
FIGURE 3. Holotype ZMB 12978 in Type specimens of bats (Chiroptera: Mammalia) in the collections of the Museum f r Naturkunde, Berlin
FIGURE 3. Holotype ZMB 12978 of Euryalus judaicus Andersen & Matschie, 1904 (in alcohol); forearm length = 50.9 mm
FIGURE 2 in Type specimens of bats (Chiroptera: Mammalia) in the collections of the Museum f r Naturkunde, Berlin
FIGURE 2. Skull of holotype ZMB 54589 Megaloglossus Woermanni Pagenstecher, 1885 in dorsal, lateral and ventral views (mandible attached).
Figure 7 in The first vertebrate fossil from Socotra Island (Yemen) is an early Holocene Egyptian fruit bat
Figure 7. Bivariate plot of the examined samples of African and Arabian fruit bats (taxa as in Figure 6): results of the principal component analysis of skull dimensions.
Figure 2 in The first vertebrate fossil from Socotra Island (Yemen) is an early Holocene Egyptian fruit bat
Figure 2. Hoq Cave on Socotra Island (Yemen), (a) current entrance and (b) the location of the calcite flowstone speleothem with the embedded early Holocene Rousettus aegyptiacus remains before removal of the skull (c; arrow points to the skull). Photographs by Kay Van Damme (a), Dirk Van Damme (b) and Peter De Geest (c).
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
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