Comparative Analyses Suggest That Information Transfer Promoted Sociality in Male Bats in the Temperate Zone

Abstract

Comparative analyses suggest that information transfer promoted sociality in male bats in the temperate zone Comparative analyses suggest that information transfer promoted sociality in male bats in the temperate zone AbstractThe evolution of sociality is a central theme in evolutionary biology. The vast majority of bats are social, which has been explained in terms of the benefits of communal breeding. However, the causes for segregated male groups remain unknown. In a comparative study, we tested whether diet and morphological adaptations to specific foraging styles, two factors known to influence the occurrence of information transfer, can predict male sociality. Our results suggest that the species most likely to benefit frominformation transfer -namely, those preying on ephemeral insects and with morphological adaptations to feeding in open habitat -are more likely to form male groups. Our findings also indicate that solitary life was the ancestral state of males and sociality evolved in several lineages. Beyond their significance for explaining the existence of male groups in bats, our findings highlight the importance of information transfer in the evolution of animal sociality. Online enhancements: appendix, data file.abstract: The evolution of sociality is a central theme in evolutionary biology. The vast majority of bats are social, which has been explained in terms of the benefits of communal breeding. However, the causes for segregated male groups remain unknown. In a comparative study, we tested whether diet and morphological adaptations to specific foraging styles, two factors known to influence the occurrence of information transfer, can predict male sociality. Our results suggest that the species most likely to benefit from information transfer-namely, those preying on ephemeral insects and with morphological adaptations to feeding in open habitat-are more likely to form male groups. Our findings also indicate that solitary life was the ancestral state of males and sociality evolved in several lineages. Beyond their significance for explaining the existence of male groups in bats, our findings highlight the importance of information transfer in the evolution of animal sociality.

Herd composition, kinship and fission–fusion social dynamics among wild giraffe

“…We propose that fission–fusion social systems evolved in response to the exploitation of dispersed, unpredictable, restricted and ephemeral food resources that animals can most effectively and efficiently use by broadcasting long‐distance information to kin, combined with short‐distance bonding mechanisms. Sperm whales transmit clicking sounds that travel at least 2 km in the ocean (Whitehead, ), elephants broadcast infrasound signals traversing over 10 km (Garstang, ), spotted hyaenas use ‘whoop’ vocalizations for long‐distance communication (East & Hofer, ), chimpanzees emit extremely loud food calls to attract conspecifics and regulate subunit size (Chapman, Wrangham & Chapman, ) and bats mediate subgroup size using echolocation in open areas following the emergence of flying insects (Safi & Kerth, ). In all of these species, ‘greeting’ ceremonies are also pronounced, for example, upon reunion, spotted hyaenas engage in mutual genital inspection (Smith et al ., ).…”

Intra- and Interspecific Responses to Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) Social Calls

“…Rafinesque's big-eared bats feed primarily by gleaning insects from vegetation (Lacki and LaDeur, 2001). Because the prey of gleaners tends to be widely distributed and their foraging behavior relies on listening for sounds generated by their prey (Faure and Barclay, 1992), they do not exhibit flocking behavior (Kerth et al, 2001;Safi and Kerth, 2007). Avoidance of conspecific social calls by Rafinesque's big-eared bats suggests that these vocalizations may act as a spacing mechanism during foraging similar to the spacing behavior exhibited by P. pipistrellus (Barlow and Jones, 1997), P. kuhlii, P. maderensis (Russo et al, 2009), and Euderma maculatum (Leonard and Fenton, 1984) in response to social calls of conspecifics.…”

“…Social calls are usually longer in duration and lower in frequency than echolocation calls and thus, are more effective at longer distances (Pfalzer and Kusch, 2003). Social calls include mating calls, alarm calls, territorial calls, and food calls (Wilkinson, 1995) and can aid in finding patchily distributed food resources (Wilkinson, 1992;Safi and Kerth, 2007) and roosts (Ruczyński et al, 2007(Ruczyński et al, , 2009). In contrast, echolocation calls are used to gain information about the environment (Fenton, 2003).…”

Low metabolism in a tropical bat from lowland Panama measured using heart rate telemetry: an unexpected life in the slow lane

“…Recent work suggests that one strategy to exploit these insect swarms at dusk more efficiently is to use the information content in group members' echolocation calls during foraging, which results in coordinated foraging by group members (Dechmann et al, 2009;Dechmann et al, 2010). Nonetheless, insect swarms usually occur only during approximately 1 h around sunset and this results in extremely short foraging periods for species specialized on this food source (Dechmann et al, 2009;Dechmann et al, 2010;Safi and Kerth, 2007). Lowering energy expenditure during the long fasting intervals must be sufficient to leave them with enough energy stores to go foraging again and even, in the case of rain, sometimes entirely skip a night of foraging .…”