Growth and development of two species of bats in a shared maternity roost

Secondary ossification center induces and protects growth plate structure

Growth plate and articular cartilage constitute a single anatomical entity early in development but later separate into two distinct structures by the secondary ossification center (SOC). The reason for such separation remains unknown. We found that evolutionarily SOC appears in animals conquering the land - amniotes. Analysis of the ossification pattern in mammals with specialized extremities (whales, bats, jerboa) revealed that SOC development correlates with the extent of mechanical loads. Mathematical modeling revealed that SOC reduces mechanical stress within the growth plate. Functional experiments revealed the high vulnerability of hypertrophic chondrocytes to mechanical stress and showed that SOC protects these cells from apoptosis caused by extensive loading. Atomic force microscopy showed that hypertrophic chondrocytes are the least mechanically stiff cells within the growth plate. Altogether, these findings suggest that SOC has evolved to protect the hypertrophic chondrocytes from the high mechanical stress encountered in the terrestrial environment.

Bat predation by spiders

In this paper more than 50 incidences of bats being captured by spiders are reviewed. Bat-catching spiders have been reported from virtually every continent with the exception of Antarctica (≈ 90% of the incidences occurring in the warmer areas of the globe between latitude 30° N and 30° S). Most reports refer to the Neotropics (42% of observed incidences), Asia (28.8%), and Australia-Papua New Guinea (13.5%). Bat-catching spiders belong to the mygalomorph family Theraphosidae and the araneomorph families Nephilidae, Araneidae, and Sparassidae. In addition to this, an attack attempt by a large araneomorph hunting spider of the family Pisauridae on an immature bat was witnessed. Eighty-eight percent of the reported incidences of bat catches were attributable to web-building spiders and 12% to hunting spiders. Large tropical orb-weavers of the genera Nephila and Eriophora in particular have been observed catching bats in their huge, strong orb-webs (of up to 1.5 m diameter). The majority of identifiable captured bats were small aerial insectivorous bats, belonging to the families Vespertilionidae (64%) and Emballonuridae (22%) and usually being among the most common bat species in their respective geographic area. While in some instances bats entangled in spider webs may have died of exhaustion, starvation, dehydration, and/or hyperthermia (i.e., non-predation death), there were numerous other instances where spiders were seen actively attacking, killing, and eating the captured bats (i.e., predation). This evidence suggests that spider predation on flying vertebrates is more widespread than previously assumed.

Postnatal development in Andersen's leaf-nosed bat Hipposideros pomona: flight, wing shape, and wing bone lengths

Postnatal changes in flight development, wing shape and wing bone lengths of 56 marked neonate Hipposideros pomona were investigated under natural conditions in southwest China. Flight experiments showed that pups began to flutter with a short horizontal displacement at 10 days and first took flight at 19 days, with most achieving sustained flight at 1 month old. Analysis of covariance on wingspan, wing area, and the other seven wing characteristics between 'pre-flight' and 'post-volancy' periods supports the hypothesis that growth had one 'pre-flight' trajectory and a different 'post-volancy' trajectory in bats. Wingspan, handwing length and area, armwing length and area, and total wing area increased linearly until the age of first flight, after which the growth rates decreased (all P < 0.001). Wing loading declined linearly until day 19 before ultimately decreasing to adult levels (P < 0.001). Additionally, the relationship of different pairwise combinations of bony components composing span-wise length and chord-wise length was evaluated to test the hypothesis that compensatory growth of wing bones in H. pomona occurred in both 'pre-flight' and 'post-volancy' periods. The frequency of short-long and long-short pairs was significantly greater than that of short-short, long-long pairs in most pairs of bone elements in adults. The results indicate that a bone 'shorter than expected' would be compensated by a bone or bones 'longer than expected', suggesting compensatory growth in H. pomona. The pairwise comparisons conducted in adults were also performed in young bats during 'pre-flight' and 'post-volancy' periods, demonstrating that compensatory growth occurred throughout postnatal ontogeny.