Facultative Nectar-Feeding Behavior in a Gleaning Insectivorous Bat (<i>Antrozous pallidus</i>)

Frick, Winifred F.; Heady, Paul A.; Hayes, John P.

doi:10.1644/09-mamm-a-001.1

Cited by 32 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…As examples, Frick et al (2009) described the facultative nectarivory for Antrozous pallidus (Vespertilionidae) in the United States; and Gonçalves et al (2007) reported Noctilio albiventris (Noctilionidae) feeding on fruits, nectar and pollen in the Brazilian wetlands of Pantanal. Depending on local environmental constrains, these plant items can be important nutritional complements for the diets of insectivorous species, and bats can consume them sporadically or seasonally, depending on the availability of their favored food sources (Wolf et al 2002, Frick et al 2009, Felix et al 2013). The discovery of a well-studied species, previously considered strictly insectivorous, foraging on fruits shows how little we know about the biology and natural history of Neotropical bats.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

First evidence of frugivory in Myotis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae, Myotinae)

Novaes¹,

Souza²,

Ribeiro³

et al. 2015

BDJ

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BackgroundMyotis occurs from tropical to temperate regions throughout the globe, and it is the largest bat genus with more than 100 species. Most species are insect-eaters, but a few also feed on other invertebrates and fishes; there is no confirmed evidence of a plant item in their diet.New informationDuring fieldwork in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, small seeds were retrieved from the feces of one adult female of the Black Myotis, Myotis nigricans—one of the most common Neotropical bats. In a germination experiment, 40% of those seeds grew into seedlings. Our findings are the first evidence of fruit consumption for any Myotis species. We reject a possible contamination because the cotton bag was never used before for bats. This study is the first evidence of frugivory in the genus Myotis.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

First evidence of frugivory in Myotis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae, Myotinae)

Novaes¹,

Souza²,

Ribeiro³

et al. 2015

BDJ

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“…crickets, beetles, scorpions, centipedes;O'Shea & Vaughan 1977), but its' diet and foraging habits are highly variable throughout its range (Frick, Shipley, Kelly, Heady, & Kay, 2014;Herrera, Fleming, & Findley, 1993;Johnston & Fenton, 2001). In addition to arthropods, Pallid bats have been documented to consume small vertebrates (Lenhart, Mata-silva, & Johnson, 1894;O'Shea & Vaughan, 1977) and are unique among vespertillionids by being the only species known to exhibit facultative nectarivory and frugivory (Aliperti, Kelt, Heady, & Frick, 2017;Frick, Heady, & Hayes, 2009;Frick, Price, Heady, & Kay, 2013;Howell, 1980). The exploitation of cardon cacti (Pachycereus pringlei) has been observed exclusively in populations from Baja California, Mexico; thus, it remains unclear whether or not this foraging strategy is widespread across areas where the Pallid bat co-occurs with other columnar cacti.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary productivity explains size variation across the Pallid bat's western geographic range

2018

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Body size is associated with many aspects of the life history, ecology and physiology of animals. Within a species, body size can vary substantially across space and time, and the mechanisms generating these patterns have been the focus of evolutionary and ecology research. Bergmann’s rule predicts a negative relationship between body size and temperature across the geographic range of endothermic animals; larger animals have a lower surface to volume ratio, which would allow for greater heat conservation. Despite the broad support for this pattern, its underlying mechanisms are heavily debated. Numerous alternative explanations have been proposed to explain why larger animals are found in colder climates and vice versa, including heat dissipation, environmental seasonality and resource availability. We used the Pallid bat, Antrozous pallidus, as a model to evaluate Bergmannian size patterns and the relative support for major explanatory hypotheses of geographic body size variation. We tested the hypothesis that geographic size variation is predicted by productivity, as opposed to seasonality, heat conservation or dissipation, or some combination of these processes. Additionally, we investigated the potential ecomorphological consequences of size variation in Pallid bats by determining if skull shape (an indicator of bite performance) varies with size. Whereas we did find that Pallid bat populations in northern latitudes are composed of larger individuals, our results suggest that net primary productivity and, to a lesser extent heat conservation, best explain size variation throughout the western range of this species. We also found that skull shape in Pallid bats changes in tandem with skull size, with larger bats having cranial traits associated with greater bite force production. The results of our study indicate that variation in resource availability may be a key factor underlying spatial patterns in size, morphology and, possibly, feeding performance within wide‐ranging bat species. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13092/suppinfo is available for this article.

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“…Carnivorous bats often eat insects; insectivorous bats may occasionally eat small vertebrates, fruit, or nectar; frugivorous bats may supplement their diets with insects; and nectarivorous bats may also eat insects and fruit (Howell, 1974;Gardner, 1977;Freeman, 2000;Mello et al, 2004;Frick et al, 2009;Rex et al, 2010;Dumont et al, 2011;Santana et al, 2011b;Clare et al, 2014;Novaes et al, 2015;Yohe et al, 2015). Diets of some (perhaps many) bat species may also shift dramatically with season (Howell, 1974;Sosa and Soriano, 1996;Mello et al, 2004;Richards et al, 2008;Rex et al, 2010;Clare et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Family of Large Omnivorous Bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) from the Late Eocene of the Fayum Depression, Egypt, with Comments on Use of the Name “Eochiroptera”

Simmons

Seiffert

Gunnell

2016

American Museum Novitates

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A new fossil from the Late Eocene BQ-2 locality in the Birket Qarun Formation in the Fayum Depression of northern Egypt (dated to ~37 mybp) does not fit within the diagnosis of any previously described family of bats from Africa or any other continent. Known from a partial maxilla, this taxon has dilambdodont tribosphenic molars with a well-developed, symmetrical, W-shaped ectoloph lacking a distinct mesostyle but with a strong parastyle and shallow U-shaped ectoflexus-all traits that are found in most archaic bat families and that are probably plesiomorphic for bats. However, this taxon also has an M2 with a large metaconule cusp and a large, bulbous hypocone set low on the posterolingual corner of the tooth, neither of which occur in any known bat family, living or extinct. Also notable is the size of the new BQ-2 bat, which appears to have been approximately the same size as the largest extant bats with dilambdodont dentitions, falling well within the size range of plant-eating megabats and carnivorous bats from several extant lineages. The combination of traits in the new BQ-2 bat suggests that it was omnivorous, probably including insects, small vertebrates, and plant material its diet. In this regard it represents an ecological niche previously unknown among archaic Eocene bats, which are otherwise thought to have been strictly animalivorous. Because extinct Eocene bat families exhibit considerable mosaic evolution in morphological traits, do not seem to have inhabited a uniform ecological niche, and do not form a monophyletic group, we argue against use of the name "Eochiroptera" to collectively refer to these taxa.

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Facultative Nectar-Feeding Behavior in a Gleaning Insectivorous Bat (Antrozous pallidus)

Cited by 32 publications

References 25 publications

First evidence of frugivory in Myotis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae, Myotinae)

First evidence of frugivory in Myotis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae, Myotinae)

Primary productivity explains size variation across the Pallid bat's western geographic range

A New Family of Large Omnivorous Bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) from the Late Eocene of the Fayum Depression, Egypt, with Comments on Use of the Name “Eochiroptera”

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