1
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Rose A, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M. Social information facilitates learning about novel food sources in adult flower-visiting bats. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:1635-1642. [PMID: 37421496 PMCID: PMC10442281 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01807-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
Incorporating novel food sources into their diet is crucial for animals in changing environments. Although the utilization of novel food sources can be learned individually, learning socially from experienced conspecifics may facilitate this task and enable a transmission of foraging-related innovations across a population. In anthropogenically modified habitats, bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) frequently adapt their feeding strategy to novel food sources, and corresponding social learning processes have been experimentally demonstrated in frugivorous and animalivorous species. However, comparable experiments are lacking for nectarivorous flower-visiting bats, even though their utilization of novel food sources in anthropogenically altered habitats is often observed and even discussed as the reason why bats are able to live in some areas. In the present study, we investigated whether adult flower-visiting bats may benefit from social information when learning about a novel food source. We conducted a demonstrator-observer dyad with wild Pallas' long-tongued bats (Glossophaga soricina; Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae) and hypothesized that naïve individuals would learn to exploit a novel food source faster when accompanied by an experienced demonstrator bat. Our results support this hypothesis and demonstrate flower-visiting bats to be capable of using social information to expand their dietary repertoire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Rose
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama, Republic of Panama
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama, Republic of Panama
- Museum für Naturkunde-Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Biology, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 42, 10115, Berlin, Germany
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2
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Kohles JE, O'Mara MT, Dechmann DKN. A conceptual framework to predict social information use based on food ephemerality and individual resource requirements. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:2039-2056. [PMID: 35932159 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Environmental variability poses a range of challenges to foraging animals trying to meet their energetic needs. Where food patches are unpredictable but shareable, animals can use social information to locate patches more efficiently or reliably. However, resource unpredictability can be heterogeneous and complex. The behavioural strategies animals employ to exploit such resources also vary, particularly if, when, and where animals use available social information. We reviewed the literature on social information use by foraging animals and developed a novel framework that integrates four elements - (1) food resource persistence; (2) the relative value of social information use; (3) behavioural context (opportunistic or coordinated); and (4) location of social information use - to predict and characterize four strategies of social information use - (1) local enhancement; (2) group facilitation; (3) following; and (4) recruitment. We validated our framework by systematically reviewing the growing empirical literature on social foraging in bats, an ideal model taxon because they exhibit extreme diversity in ecological niche and experience low predation risk while foraging but function at high energy expenditures, which selects for efficient foraging behaviours. Our framework's predictions agreed with the observed natural behaviour of bats and identified key knowledge gaps for future studies. Recent advancements in technology, methods, and analysis will facilitate additional studies in bats and other taxa to further test the framework and our conception of the ecological and evolutionary forces driving social information use. Understanding the links between food distribution, social information use, and foraging behaviour will help elucidate social interactions, group structure, and the evolution of sociality for species across the animal kingdom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna E Kohles
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | - M Teague O'Mara
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama.,Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, 808 N. Pine Street, Hammond, LA, 70402, USA
| | - Dina K N Dechmann
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
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3
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Social information-mediated population dynamics in non-grouping prey. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03215-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Inadvertent social information (ISI) use, i.e., the exploitation of social cues including the presence and behaviour of others, has been predicted to mediate population-level processes even in the absence of cohesive grouping. However, we know little about how such effects may arise when the prey population lacks social structure beyond the spatiotemporal autocorrelation originating from the random movement of individuals. In this study, we built an individual-based model where predator avoidance behaviour could spread among randomly moving prey through the network of nearby observers. We qualitatively assessed how ISI use may affect prey population size when cue detection was associated with different probabilities and fitness costs, and characterised the structural properties of the emerging detection networks that would provide pathways for information spread in prey. We found that ISI use was among the most influential model parameters affecting prey abundance and increased equilibrium population sizes in most examined scenarios. Moreover, it could substantially contribute to population survival under high predation pressure, but this effect strongly depended on the level of predator detection ability. When prey exploited social cues in the presence of high predation risk, the observed detection networks consisted of a large number of connected components with small sizes and small ego networks; this resulted in efficient information spread among connected individuals in the detection networks. Our study provides hypothetical mechanisms about how temporary local densities may allow information diffusion about predation threats among conspecifics and facilitate population stability and persistence in non-grouping animals.
Significance statement
The exploitation of inadvertently produced social cues may not only modify individual behaviour but also fundamentally influence population dynamics and species interactions. Using an individual-based model, we investigated how the detection and spread of adaptive antipredator behaviour may cascade to changes in the demographic performance of randomly moving (i.e., non-grouping) prey. We found that social information use contributed to population stability and persistence by reducing predation-related per capita mortality and raising equilibrium population sizes when predator detection ability reached a sufficient level. We also showed that temporary detection networks had structural properties that allowed efficient information spread among prey under high predation pressure. Our work represents a general modelling approach that could be adapted to specific predator-prey systems and scrutinise how temporary local densities allow dynamic information diffusion about predation threats and facilitate population stability in non-grouping animals.
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4
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Page RA, ter Hofstede HM. Sensory and Cognitive Ecology of Bats. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND SYSTEMATICS 2021. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012921-052635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
We see stunning morphological diversity across the animal world. Less conspicuous but equally fascinating are the sensory and cognitive adaptations that determine animals’ interactions with their environments and each other. We discuss the development of the fields of sensory and cognitive ecology and the importance of integrating these fields to understand the evolution of adaptive behaviors. Bats, with their extraordinarily high ecological diversity, are ideal animals for this purpose. An explosion in recent research allows for better understanding of the molecular, genetic, neural, and behavioral bases for sensory ecology and cognition in bats. We give examples of studies that illuminate connections between sensory and cognitive features of information filtering, evolutionary trade-offs in sensory and cognitive processing, and multimodal sensing and integration. By investigating the selective pressures underlying information acquisition, processing, and use in bats, we aim to illuminate patterns and processes driving sensory and cognitive evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel A. Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843–03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
| | - Hannah M. ter Hofstede
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843–03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA
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5
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Lourie E, Schiffner I, Toledo S, Nathan R. Memory and Conformity, but Not Competition, Explain Spatial Partitioning Between Two Neighboring Fruit Bat Colonies. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.732514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatial partitioning between neighboring colonies is considered a widespread phenomenon in colonial species, reported mainly in marine birds. Partitioning is suspected to emerge due to various processes, such as competition, diet specialization, memory, information transfer, or even “foraging cultures.” Yet, empirical evidence from other taxa, and studies that tease apart the relative contribution of the processes underlying partitioning, remain scarce, mostly due to insufficiently detailed movement data. Here, we used high-resolution movement tracks (at 0.125 Hz) of 107 individuals belonging to two neighboring colonies of the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus), a highly gregarious central-place forager, using the ATLAS reverse-GPS system in the Hula Valley, Israel. Based on comparisons between agent-based mechanistic models and observed spatial partitioning patterns, we found high levels of partitioning of both area and tree resources (<11% overlap) that were stable across different fruiting seasons. Importantly, partitioning could not have emerged if the bats’ movement was only limited by food availability and travel distances, as most commonly hypothesized. Rather than density-dependent or between-colony competition, memory, and, to a lesser extent, conformity in tree-use explain how partitioning develops. Elucidating the mechanisms that shape spatial partitioning among neighboring colonies in the wild under variable resource conditions is important for understanding the ecology and evolution of inter-group coexistence, space use patterns and sociality.
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6
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Hansen JE, Hertel AG, Frank SC, Kindberg J, Zedrosser A. Social environment shapes female settlement decisions in a solitary carnivore. Behav Ecol 2021; 33:137-146. [PMID: 35197809 PMCID: PMC8857934 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
How and where a female selects an area to settle and breed is of central importance in dispersal and population ecology as it governs range expansion and gene flow. Social structure and organization have been shown to influence settlement decisions, but its importance in the settlement of large, solitary mammals is largely unknown. We investigate how the identity of overlapping conspecifics on the landscape, acquired during the maternal care period, influences the selection of settlement home ranges in a non-territorial, solitary mammal using location data of 56 female brown bears (Ursus arctos). We used a resource selection function to determine whether females’ settlement behavior was influenced by the presence of their mother, related females, familiar females, and female population density. Hunting may remove mothers and result in socio-spatial changes before settlement. We compared overlap between settling females and their mother’s concurrent or most recent home ranges to examine the settling female’s response to the absence or presence of her mother on the landscape. We found that females selected settlement home ranges that overlapped their mother’s home range, familiar females, that is, those they had previously overlapped with, and areas with higher density than their natal ranges. However, they did not select areas overlapping related females. We also found that when mothers were removed from the landscape, female offspring selected settlement home ranges with greater overlap of their mother’s range, compared with mothers who were alive. Our results suggest that females are acquiring and using information about their social environment when making settlement decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- J E Hansen
- Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences, Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø i Telemark, Norway
| | - A G Hertel
- Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences, Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø i Telemark, Norway
- Senkenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - S C Frank
- Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences, Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø i Telemark, Norway
| | - J Kindberg
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Umeå, Sweden
| | - A Zedrosser
- Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences, Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø i Telemark, Norway
- Department of Integrative Biology, Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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7
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Kelm DH, Toelch U, Jones MM. Mixed-species groups in bats: non-random roost associations and roost selection in neotropical understory bats. Front Zool 2021; 18:53. [PMID: 34641887 PMCID: PMC8507185 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-021-00437-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mixed-species groups in animals have been shown to confer antipredator, foraging and other benefits to their members that may provide selective advantages. In most cases, however, it is unclear whether functional benefits are a principal driver of heterospecific groups, or whether groups simply result from simultaneous exploitation of common resources. Mixed-species groups that form independently of environmental conditions may, however, evidence direct benefits of species associations. Bats are among the most gregarious mammals, with sometimes thousands of individuals of various species roosting communally. Despite numerous potential functional benefits of such mixed-species roosting groups, interspecific attraction has never been shown. To explore alternative explanations for mixed-species roosting, we studied roost selection in a speciose neotropical understory bat community in lowland rainforest in Costa Rica. Long term roost data were recorded over 10 years in a total of 133 roosts comprising both natural roosts and structurally uniform artificial roosts. We modelled bat roost occupancy and abundance in each roost type and in forest and pasture habitats to quantify the effects of roost- and environmental variability. RESULTS We found that bat species presence in natural roosts is predictable from habitat and structural roost parameters, but that the presence and abundance of other bat species further modifies roost choice. One third of the 12 study species were found to actively associate with selected other bat species in roosts (e.g. Glossophaga commissarisi with Carollia sowelli). Other species did not engage in communal roosting, which in some cases indicates a role for negative interspecific interactions, such as roost competition. CONCLUSIONS Mixed-species roosting may provide thermoregulatory benefits, reduce intraspecific competition and promote interspecific information transfer, and hence some heterospecific associations may be selected for in bats. Overall, our study contributes to an improved understanding of the array of factors that shape diverse tropical bat communities and drive the dynamics of heterospecific grouping in mammals more generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Detlev H Kelm
- Zoology 2, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. .,Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany. .,Estación Biológica de Doñana, Seville, Spain.
| | - Ulf Toelch
- Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin , QUEST Center for Responsible Research , Berlin, Germany
| | - Mirkka M Jones
- Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE Helsinki Institute for Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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8
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Aguiñaga J, Gomulkiewicz R, Watts HE. Effect of social information on an individual's assessment of its environment. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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9
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Mahandran V, Murugan CM, Gang W, Jin C, Nathan PT. Multimodal cues facilitate ripe-fruit localization and extraction in free-ranging pteropodid bats. Behav Processes 2021; 189:104426. [PMID: 34048877 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Sensory cues play an important role in any plant-animal interaction. Yet, we know very little about the cues used by wild mammals during fruit selection. Existing evidence mainly comes from captive studies and suggests that the pteropodid bats rely on olfaction to find fruits. In this study, we avoided captivity-generated stressors and provide insights from natural selective forces by performing manipulative experiments on free-ranging fruit bats (Cynopterus sphinx) in a wild setting, in a tree species that exhibits a bat-fruit syndrome (Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia). We find that visual cues are necessary and sufficient to locate ripe fruits. Fruit experiments exhibiting visual cues alone received more bat visits than those exhibiting other combinations of visual and olfactory cues. Ripe fruit extractions were higher by bats that evaluated fruits by perching than hovering, indicating an additional cue, i.e., haptic cue. Visual cues appear to be informative over short distances, whereas olfactory and haptic cues facilitate the fruit evaluation for those bats that used hovering and perching strategies, respectively. This study also shows that adult bats were more skillful in extracting ripe fruits than the young bats, and there was a positive correlation between the weight of selected fruits and bat weight. This study suggests that the integration of multimodal cues (visual, olfactory and haptic) facilitate ripe-fruit localization and extraction in free-ranging pteropodid bats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valliyappan Mahandran
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China
| | | | - Wang Gang
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China
| | - Chen Jin
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China
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10
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Kohles JE, Carter GG, Page RA, Dechmann DKN. Socially foraging bats discriminate between group members based on search-phase echolocation calls. Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Animals have evolved diverse strategies to use social information for increasing foraging success and efficiency. Echolocating bats, for example, can eavesdrop on bats foraging nearby because they shift from search-phase calls to feeding buzzes when they detect prey. Feeding buzzes can directly convey information about prey presence, but it is unknown whether search-phase calls also convey social information. Here, we investigated whether search-phase echolocation calls, distinct calls produced by some bat species to scan large open areas for prey, can additionally convey individual identity. We tested this in Molossus molossus, a neotropical insectivorous bat that forages with group members, presumably to find ephemeral insect swarms more efficiently. We caught M. molossus from six different social groups and recorded their search-phase calls during a standardized release procedure, then recaptured and tested 19 marked bats with habituation–dishabituation playback experiments. We showed that they can discriminate between group members based on search-phase calls, and our statistical analysis of call parameters supported the presence of individual signatures in search-phase calls. Individual discrimination is a prerequisite of individual recognition, which may allow M. molossus to maintain contact with group members while foraging without using specialized signals for communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna E Kohles
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße, Konstanz, Germany
- Gamboa Laboratory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ave. Luis F. Clement, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá, República de Panamá
| | - Gerald G Carter
- Gamboa Laboratory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ave. Luis F. Clement, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá, República de Panamá
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Aronoff Laboratory, Columbus, OH , USA
| | - Rachel A Page
- Gamboa Laboratory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ave. Luis F. Clement, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá, República de Panamá
| | - Dina K N Dechmann
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße, Konstanz, Germany
- Gamboa Laboratory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ave. Luis F. Clement, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá, República de Panamá
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11
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Rose A, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M. Visits at artificial RFID flowers demonstrate that juvenile flower-visiting bats perform foraging flights apart from their mothers. Mamm Biol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-020-00048-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
AbstractDuring the transition from parental care to independent life, the development of adequate foraging skills is a major challenge for many juvenile mammals. However, participating in their parents’ knowledge by applying social learning strategies might facilitate this task. For several mammals, communal foraging of adults and offspring is suggested to be an important mechanism in mediating foraging-related information. For the large mammalian taxon of bats, only little is known about foraging-related social learning processes during ontogeny. It is often suggested that following their mothers during foraging flights would represent a valuable option for juveniles to socially learn about foraging, e.g., where to find resource-rich foraging patches, but explicit tests are scarce. In the present study, we investigated the foraging behavior of juvenile flower-visiting bats (Glossophaga soricina) in a dry forest in Costa Rica. We tested whether recently volant, but still nursed pups perform foraging flights alone, or whether pups follow their mothers, which would enable pups to socially learn where to feed. For that, we trained mothers and pups to feed from artificial flowers with a RFID reading system and, subsequently, conducted a field experiment to test whether RFID-tagged mothers and pups visit these flowers communally or independently. Unexpectedly, pups often encountered and visited artificial flowers near the day roost, while mothers rarely did, suggesting that they foraged somewhere further away. Our results demonstrate that still nursed juveniles perform foraging flights apart from their mothers and might learn about the spatial distribution of food without participating in their mother’s knowledge, for instance, by following other conspecifics or applying individual learning strategies. An initial potential lack of foraging success in this period is likely compensated by the ongoing maternal provisioning with breast milk and regurgitated nectar during daytime. Our results contribute to the growing body of research on the ontogeny of mammalian foraging behavior in general.
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Calderón-Capote MC, Dechmann DKN, Fahr J, Wikelski M, Kays R, O'Mara MT. Foraging movements are density-independent among straw-coloured fruit bats. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:200274. [PMID: 32537224 PMCID: PMC7277244 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Intraspecific competition in large aggregations of animals should generate density-dependent effects on foraging patterns. To test how large differences in colony size affect foraging movements, we tracked seasonal movements of the African straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) from four colonies that range from 4000 up to 10 million animals. Contrary to initial predictions, we found that mean distance flown per night (9-99 km), number of nightly foraging sites (2-3) and foraging and commuting times were largely independent of colony size. Bats showed classic central-place foraging and typically returned to the same day roost each night. However, roost switching was evident among individuals in three of the four colonies especially towards the onset of migration. The relatively consistent foraging patterns across seasons and colonies indicate that these bats seek out roosts close to highly productive landscapes. Once foraging effort starts to increase due to local resource depletion they migrate to landscapes with seasonally increasing resources. This minimizes high intraspecific competition and may help to explain why long-distance migration, otherwise rare in bats, evolved in this highly gregarious species.
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Affiliation(s)
- María C. Calderón-Capote
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Dina K. N. Dechmann
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jakob Fahr
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- TU Braunschweig, Zoological Institute, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Roland Kays
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - M. Teague O'Mara
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, USA
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13
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Flores V, Carter GG, Halczok TK, Kerth G, Page RA. Social structure and relatedness in the fringe-lipped bat ( Trachops cirrhosus). ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:192256. [PMID: 32431896 PMCID: PMC7211832 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.192256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
General insights into the causes and effects of social structure can be gained from comparative analyses across socially and ecologically diverse taxa, such as bats, but long-term data are lacking for most species. In the neotropical fringe-lipped bat, Trachops cirrhosus, social transmission of foraging behaviour is clearly demonstrated in captivity, yet its social structure in the wild remains unclear. Here, we used microsatellite-based estimates of relatedness and records of 157 individually marked adults from 106 roost captures over 6 years, to infer whether male and female T. cirrhosus have preferred co-roosting associations and whether such associations were influenced by relatedness. Using a null model that controlled for year and roosting location, we found that both male and female T. cirrhosus have preferred roosting partners, but that only females demonstrate kin-biased association. Most roosting groups (67%) contained multiple females with one or two reproductive males. Relatedness patterns and recapture records corroborate genetic evidence for female philopatry and male dispersal. Our study adds to growing evidence that many bats demonstrate preferred roosting associations, which has the potential to influence social information transfer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Flores
- Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, 1025 E. 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panamá
| | - Gerald G. Carter
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panamá
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 318 W. 12th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Tanja K. Halczok
- Greifswald University, Zoological Institute and Museum, Soldmannstr. 14, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Gerald Kerth
- Greifswald University, Zoological Institute and Museum, Soldmannstr. 14, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Rachel A. Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panamá
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14
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Melanism influences the use of social information in a polymorphic owl. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1869. [PMID: 32024960 PMCID: PMC7002771 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58826-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2019] [Accepted: 01/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Social information use has well-known fitness benefits. However, causes underlying the apparent inter-individual variability in the propensity to use social information are poorly studied. Melanins are pigments responsible for most of intra-specific color variation in vertebrates and their variation is often associated with changes in behaviour. Here, we explored whether melanism is related to individual propensity to use social information in the color polymorphic scops owl Otus scops. We manipulated social information on predation risk at nests by broadcasting calls of the sympatric little owl Athene noctua and found that owlets of brownish females exposed to alarm calls had lower levels of natural antibodies than those of greyish females. In parallel, we found changes in parental behaviour contingent on coloration because when exposed to the risky treatment brownish females returned earlier to nests than greyish females and owlets raised by brownish females were fed with smaller prey than those raised by greyish ones. These results provide support for a previous ignored role of melanins on the propensity to use social information, which may help to explain the maintenance of melanin-based color polymorphisms wherever social environments are variable.
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15
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Decision making in foraging bats. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2020; 60:169-175. [PMID: 31927435 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2019.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Revised: 12/27/2019] [Accepted: 12/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Foraging is a complex and cognitively demanding behavior. Although it is often regarded as a mundane task, foraging requires the continuous weighting and integration of many sources of information with varying levels of credence. Bats are extremely diverse in their ecology and behavior, and thus demonstrate a wide variety of foraging strategies. In this review, we examine the different factors influencing the decision process of bats during foraging. Technological developments of recent years will soon enable real-time tracking of environmental conditions, of the position and quality of food items, the location of conspecifics, and the bat's movement history. Monitoring these variables alongside the continuous movement of the bat will facilitate the testing of different decision-making theories such as the use of reinforcement learning in wild free ranging bats and other animals.
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16
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Page RA, Bernal XE. The challenge of detecting prey: Private and social information use in predatory bats. Funct Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ximena E. Bernal
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa Panamá
- Department of Biological Sciences Purdue University West Lafayette Indiana
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17
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Rose A, Wöhl S, Bechler J, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M. Maternal mouth-to-mouth feeding behaviour in flower-visiting bats, but no experimental evidence for transmitted dietary preferences. Behav Processes 2019; 165:29-35. [PMID: 31170462 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Revised: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 06/01/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
In addition to breast milk, several mammals feed their offspring with primary food items. This provisioning can offer both energetic and informational benefits: young might use parentally provided food as a source of nutrients, but also as a valuable option to socially learn about adults' food. For bats, there are only very few and partially anecdotal reports of adults feeding their pups with primary food, and there is also a lack of information about social learning processes during ontogeny. In the present study, we provide experimental evidence that lactating flower-visiting bats (Glossophaga soricina) provide regurgitated nectar via mouth-to-mouth feeding behaviour to their pups. After licking at their mothers' slightly opened mouth, pups defecated a marker substance that was exclusively available in the mothers' nectar diet. We additionally investigated associated informational benefits by testing for a social transmission of dietary preferences. We experimentally induced a dietary preference for specifically flavoured nectars to mothers with non-volant pups. Subsequently, after pups became volant, we tested their dietary preferences in a choice experiment. However, we found no experimental evidence that pups adopted the preferences of their mothers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Rose
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Saskia Wöhl
- Institute of Zoology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Staudtstr. 5, 91058, Erlangen, Germany; Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum Westerwald-Osteifel, Fachzentrum für Bienen und Imkerei, Im Bannen 38, 56727, Mayen, Germany
| | - Jan Bechler
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069, Ulm, Germany
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069, Ulm, Germany; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama; Animal Behavior Lab, Free University Berlin, Takustrasse 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany; Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany
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18
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Hiller T, Rasche A, Brändel SD, König A, Jeworowski L, Teague O'Mara M, Cottontail V, Page RA, Glebe D, Drexler JF, Tschapka M. Host Biology and Anthropogenic Factors Affect Hepadnavirus Infection in a Neotropical Bat. ECOHEALTH 2019; 16:82-94. [PMID: 30564998 PMCID: PMC7088011 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-018-1387-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2018] [Accepted: 10/12/2018] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
The tent-making bat hepatitis B virus (TBHBV) is a hepadnavirus closely related to human hepatitis B virus. The ecology of TBHBV is unclear. We show that it is widespread and highly diversified in Peters' tent-making bats (Uroderma bilobatum) within Panama, while local prevalence varied significantly between sample sites, ranging from 0 to 14.3%. Females showed significantly higher prevalence than males, and pregnant females were more often acutely infected than non-reproductive ones. The distribution of TBHBV in bats was significantly affected by forest cover, with higher infection rates in areas with lower forest cover. Our data indicate that loss of natural habitat may lead to positive feedback on the biotic factors driving infection possibility. These results underline the necessity of multidisciplinary studies for a better understanding of mechanisms in pathogen-host relationships and for predictions in disease ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Hiller
- Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany.
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama.
| | - Andrea Rasche
- Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Virology, Berlin, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Bonn-Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Stefan Dominik Brändel
- Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | - Alexander König
- Institute of Medical Virology, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
- German Reference Center for Hepatitis B and D Viruses, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Giessen-Marburg-Langen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Lara Jeworowski
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
| | - M Teague O'Mara
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Constance, Germany
| | - Veronika Cottontail
- Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | - Rachel A Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | - Dieter Glebe
- Institute of Medical Virology, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
- German Reference Center for Hepatitis B and D Viruses, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Giessen-Marburg-Langen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Jan Felix Drexler
- Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Virology, Berlin, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Bonn-Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
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19
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Affiliation(s)
- Yann Gager
- Department of Migration and Immuno‐ecologyMax Planck Institute for Ornithology Am Obstberg 1 Radolfzell 78315 Germany
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Konstanz Konstanz 78457 Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Organismal BiologyUniversity of Konstanz Konstanz 78457 Germany
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20
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Kohles JE, Page RA, Dechmann DKN, O’Mara MT. Rapid behavioral changes during early development in Peters' tent-making bat (Uroderma bilobatum). PLoS One 2018; 13:e0205351. [PMID: 30356286 PMCID: PMC6200227 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Bats transition from flightless, milk-sustained infants to volant, foraging juveniles in the span of a few weeks to a few months. This rapid development is accompanied by fast growth and weight gain, but behavioral development remains poorly understood. We addressed development of maternal support and pup independence for Peters’ tent-making bat (Uroderma bilobatum) in light of population level reproductive patterns. Uroderma bilobatum exhibited seasonal bimodal polyoestry at our study site. Births occurred over one month within a reproductive bout, resulting in variable levels of behavioral development for pups in the same maternity group. Pups reached adult forearm length more quickly than adult mass, facilitating the ontogeny of flight. Maternal support consisted of nursing and thermoregulation, transporting pups between night and day roosts, and milk provisioning between foraging bouts. We did not observe provisioning with solid food. Pups interacted only with their own mother. Between 25 to 40 days into a reproductive bout they matured by suckling progressively less and fledging over multiple nights in a two-stage process assisted by mothers. We describe several parturition events as well as a novel form of stereotyped tactile stimulation involving forearm pulses by mothers against suckling pups that may serve to promote weaning. Rapid behavioral changes in both pups and mothers accompany pup morphological development through maturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna E. Kohles
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama City, Panama
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Rachel A. Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama City, Panama
| | - Dina K. N. Dechmann
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama City, Panama
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - M. Teague O’Mara
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama City, Panama
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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21
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Patriquin KJ, Kohles JE, Page RA, Ratcliffe JM. Bats without borders: Predators learn novel prey cues from other predatory species. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaaq0579. [PMID: 29568801 PMCID: PMC5862503 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaq0579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2017] [Accepted: 02/08/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Learning from others allows individuals to adapt rapidly to environmental change. Although conspecifics tend to be reliable models, heterospecifics with similar resource requirements may be suitable surrogates when conspecifics are few or unfamiliar with recent changes in resource availability. We tested whether Trachops cirrhosus, a gleaning bat that localizes prey using their mating calls, can learn about novel prey from conspecifics and the sympatric bat Lophostoma silvicolum. Specifically, we compared the rate for naïve T. cirrhosus to learn an unfamiliar tone from either a trained conspecific or heterospecific alone through trial and error or through social facilitation. T. cirrhosus learned this novel cue from L. silvicolum as quickly as from conspecifics. This is the first demonstration of social learning of a novel acoustic cue in bats and suggests that heterospecific learning may occur in nature. We propose that auditory-based social learning may help bats learn about unfamiliar prey and facilitate their adaptive radiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krista J. Patriquin
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
| | - Jenna E. Kohles
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Rachel A. Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
| | - John M. Ratcliffe
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada
- Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
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22
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Jones PL, Hämsch F, Page RA, Kalko EKV, O'Mara MT. Foraging and Roosting Behaviour of the Fringe-Lipped Bat, Trachops cirrhosus, on Barro Colorado Island, Panamá. ACTA CHIROPTEROLOGICA 2017. [DOI: 10.3161/15081109acc2017.19.2.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Patricia L. Jones
- Department of Biology, Bowdoin College, 6500 College Station, Brunswick ME 04011-8465, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
| | - Frank Hämsch
- Department of Biology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 32, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Rachel A Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
| | - Elisabeth K. V. Kalko
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
- Institute of Experimental Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
| | - M. Teague O'Mara
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
- Department of Migration & Immuno-ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
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23
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O'Mara MT, Wikelski M, Voigt CC, Ter Maat A, Pollock HS, Burness G, Desantis LM, Dechmann DK. Cyclic bouts of extreme bradycardia counteract the high metabolism of frugivorous bats. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 28923167 PMCID: PMC5605195 DOI: 10.7554/elife.26686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2017] [Accepted: 08/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Active flight requires the ability to efficiently fuel bursts of costly locomotion while maximizing energy conservation during non-flying times. We took a multi-faceted approach to estimate how fruit-eating bats (Uroderma bilobatum) manage a high-energy lifestyle fueled primarily by fig juice. Miniaturized heart rate telemetry shows that they use a novel, cyclic, bradycardic state that reduces daily energetic expenditure by 10% and counteracts heart rates as high as 900 bpm during flight. Uroderma bilobatum support flight with some of the fastest metabolic incorporation rates and dynamic circulating cortisol in vertebrates. These bats will exchange fat reserves within 24 hr, meaning that they must survive on the food of the day and are at daily risk of starvation. Energetic flexibly in U. bilobatum highlights the fundamental role of ecological pressures on integrative energetic networks and the still poorly understood energetic strategies of animals in the tropics. To survive, all animals have to balance how much energy they take in and how much they use. They must find enough food to fuel the chemical processes that keep them alive – known as their metabolism – and store leftover fuel to use when food is not available. Bats, for example, have a fast metabolism and powerful flight muscles, which require a lot of energy. Some bat species, such as the tent-making bats, survive on fruit juice, and their food sources are often far apart and difficult to find. These bats are likely to starve if they go without food for more than 24 hours, and therefore need to conserve energy while they are resting. To deal with potential food shortages, bats and other animals can enter a low-energy resting state called torpor. In this state, animals lower their body temperature and slow down their heart rate and metabolism so that they need less energy to stay alive. However, many animals that live in tropical regions, including tent-making bats, cannot enter a state of torpor, as it is too hot to sufficiently lower their body temperature. Until now, scientists did not fully understand how these bats control how much energy they use. Now, O’Mara et al. studied tent-making bats in the wild by attaching small heart rate transmitters to four wild bats, and measured their heartbeats over several days. Since each heartbeat delivers oxygen and fuel to the rest of the body, measuring the bats’ heart rate indicates how much energy they are using. The experiments revealed for the first time that tent-making bats periodically lower their heart rates while resting (to around 200 beats per minute). This reduces the amount of energy they use each day by up to 10%, and helps counteract heart rates that can reach 900 beats per minute when the bats are flying. Overall, these findings show that animals have evolved in various ways to control their use of energy. Future research should use similar technology to continue uncovering how wild animals have adapted to survive in different conditions. This knowledge will help us to understand how life has become so diverse in the tropics and the strategies that animals may use as climates change.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Teague O'Mara
- Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama.,Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Andries Ter Maat
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Starnberg, Germany
| | - Henry S Pollock
- Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States
| | - Gary Burness
- Department of Biology, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada
| | - Lanna M Desantis
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada
| | - Dina Kn Dechmann
- Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
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24
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Samplonius JM, Both C. Competitor phenology as a social cue in breeding site selection. J Anim Ecol 2017; 86:615-623. [PMID: 28118482 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Accepted: 01/12/2017] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jelmer M. Samplonius
- Conservation Ecology Group Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences University of Groningen P.O. Box 11103 9700CC Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Christiaan Both
- Conservation Ecology Group Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences University of Groningen P.O. Box 11103 9700CC Groningen The Netherlands
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25
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Ramakers JJ, Dechmann DK, Page RA, O'Mara MT. Frugivorous bats prefer information from novel social partners. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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26
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Ganesh A, Mukilan M, Marimuthu G, Rajan KE. A Novel Food Preference in the Greater Short-Nosed Fruit Bat,Cynopterus sphinx: Mother-Pup Interaction a Strategy for Learning. ACTA CHIROPTEROLOGICA 2016. [DOI: 10.3161/15081109acc2016.18.1.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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27
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Ripperger S, Josic D, Hierold M, Koelpin A, Weigel R, Hartmann M, Page R, Mayer F. Automated proximity sensing in small vertebrates: design of miniaturized sensor nodes and first field tests in bats. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:2179-89. [PMID: 27069579 PMCID: PMC4782256 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2015] [Revised: 02/05/2016] [Accepted: 02/08/2016] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Social evolution has led to a stunning diversity of complex social behavior, in particular in vertebrate taxa. Thorough documentation of social interactions is crucial to study the causes and consequences of sociality in gregarious animals. Wireless digital transceivers represent a promising tool to revolutionize data collection for the study of social interactions in terms of the degree of automation, data quantity, and quality. Unfortunately, devices for automated proximity sensing via direct communication among animal‐borne sensors are usually heavy and do not allow for the investigation of small animal species, which represent the majority of avian and mammalian taxa. We present a lightweight animal‐borne sensor node that is built from commercially available components and uses a sophisticated scheme for energy‐efficient communication, with high sampling rates at relatively low power consumption. We demonstrate the basic functionality of the sensor node under laboratory conditions and its applicability for the study of social interactions among free‐ranging animals. The first field tests were performed on two species of bats in temperate and tropical ecosystems. At <2 g, this sensor node is light enough to observe a broad spectrum of taxa including small vertebrates. Given our specifications, the system was especially sensitive to changes in distance within the short range (up to a distance of 4 m between tags). High spatial resolution at short distances enables the evaluation of interactions among individuals at a fine scale and the investigation of close contacts. This technology opens new avenues of research, allowing detailed investigation of events associated with social contact, such as mating behavior, pathogen transmission, social learning, and resource sharing. Social behavior that is not easily observed becomes observable, for example, in animals living in burrows or in nocturnal animals. A switch from traditional methods to the application of digital transceiver chips in proximity sensing offers numerous advantages in addition to an enormous increase in data quality and quantity. For future applications, the platform allows for the integration of additional sensors that may collect physiological or environmental data. Such information complements social network studies and may allow for a deeper understanding of animal ecology and social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Ripperger
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
| | - Darija Josic
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
| | - Martin Hierold
- Institute for Electronics Engineering Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) Erlangen Germany
| | - Alexander Koelpin
- Institute for Electronics Engineering Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) Erlangen Germany
| | - Robert Weigel
- Institute for Electronics Engineering Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) Erlangen Germany
| | - Markus Hartmann
- Information Technology (Communication Electronics) Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) Erlangen Germany
| | - Rachel Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa, Ancón Panama
| | - Frieder Mayer
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany; Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research Berlin Germany
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28
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Muchhala N, Serrano D. The Complexity of Background Clutter Affects Nectar Bat Use of Flower Odor and Shape Cues. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0136657. [PMID: 26445216 PMCID: PMC4596802 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2015] [Accepted: 08/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Given their small size and high metabolism, nectar bats need to be able to quickly locate flowers during foraging bouts. Chiropterophilous plants depend on these bats for their reproduction, thus they also benefit if their flowers can be easily located, and we would expect that floral traits such as odor and shape have evolved to maximize detection by bats. However, relatively little is known about the importance of different floral cues during foraging bouts. In the present study, we undertook a set of flight cage experiments with two species of nectar bats (Anoura caudifer and A. geoffroyi) and artificial flowers to compare the importance of shape and scent cues in locating flowers. In a training phase, a bat was presented an artificial flower with a given shape and scent, whose position was constantly shifted to prevent reliance on spatial memory. In the experimental phase, two flowers were presented, one with the training-flower scent and one with the training-flower shape. For each experimental repetition, we recorded which flower was located first, and then shifted flower positions. Additionally, experiments were repeated in a simple environment, without background clutter, or a complex environment, with a background of leaves and branches. Results demonstrate that bats visit either flower indiscriminately with simple backgrounds, with no significant difference in terms of whether they visit the training-flower odor or training-flower shape first. However, in a complex background olfaction was the most important cue; scented flowers were consistently located first. This suggests that for well-exposed flowers, without obstruction from clutter, vision and/or echolocation are sufficient in locating them. In more complex backgrounds, nectar bats depend more heavily on olfaction during foraging bouts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Muchhala
- Department of Biology, University of Missouri St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Diana Serrano
- Escuela de Ciencias Biologicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
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Fugère V, Teague O’Mara M, Page RA. Perceptual bias does not explain preference for prey call adornment in the frog-eating bat. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1949-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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