DOCSLIB.ORG

Sensory and Cognitive Constraints and Opportunities in Bats

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Sensory and Cognitive Constraints and Opportunities in Bats Sensory and Cognitive Constraints and Opportunities in Bats by Jeneni Thiagavel A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto © Copyright by Jeneni Thiagavel, 2019 i Sensory and Cognitive Constraints and Opportunities in Bats Doctor of Philosophy, 2019 Jeneni Thiagavel, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto Here I report on three comparative studies and one review chapter addressing the relationships between sensory reliance, neuroanatomy, skull morphology and body size, as they relate to diet and foraging in bats. In chapter two, I use morphological and echolocation data to test whether (i) mass-signal frequency allometry or (ii) emitter-limited (maximum gape) signal directionality better explain the negative relationship between size and peak frequency in bats. The results suggest that body mass and forearm length were important predictors of open space echolocation call peak frequency in ways that (i) reflect species- specific size differences, and (ii) suggest the influence of preferred foraging habitat. In chapter three, I test the predictions that the ancestral bat had (i) an auditory brain design capable of supporting early laryngeal echolocation, but (ii) eyes of insufficient absolute size to allow insect tracking at night. The results suggest that bats’ common ancestor had eyes too small to allow for successful aerial hawking of flying insects at night, but an auditory brain design sufficient to afford echolocation. Further, we find that those with less sophisticated biosonar have relatively larger eyes than do sophisticated echolocators. ii In chapter four, I continue to explore apparent trade-offs between echolocation call design and vision in predatory bats. I also explored the effects of foraging strategy, roost preference, and migration on the brains and eyes of predatory bats. I found that external roosters had large relative eyes, as did those with conserved calls which also had larger visual regions than those with more derived calls. The results also suggest that gleaners and sedentary bats have larger brains than aerial hawking and migrating bats, respectively. In chapter five, I provide an overview of sensory and cognitive ecology as they relate to foraging ecology and diet in the Phyllostomidae. These bats have a wide spectrum of feeding ecologies and sensory system specializations. Here, I use the Phyllostomidae to illustrate the influences that foraging ecology and diet selection have on the evolution of sensory systems and relative brain and brain region volumes. iii Acknowledgments First, thank you Dr. John Ratcliffe for being the best mentor I could have ever asked for. Thank you for sculpting me into the scientist I am today and for getting me this far. Your advice and guidance has not only helped me get a doctorate degree but also helped me lay out a path for my future. I can never thank you enough for putting your faith in me when you took me on and for having brought me this far today. I am forever grateful to you and I look forward to being friends for years to come. Thank you to my committee members, Drs. Helene Wagner and Glenn Morris. You have watched me grow from the first year of my Ph.D., fresh out of undergraduate studies, to the graduate I am today. Thank you both for your insightful comments and advice for each of my projects. Helene, thank you for being such a caring mentor who has taught me how to effectively balance the various aspects of my life. Glenn, thank you for all the laughs during our meetings and for showing me that science can be quite relaxing and enjoyable to do. Thank you to my father, Sivanandam Thiagavel, who has been the biggest pillar of strength for my education. I would never have been able to get my Ph.D. without you. Thank you for making my education your life’s number one priority. Thank you to my mother, Nantha Thiagavel, for being one of my best well-wishers and for helping me become the woman I am today. I am forever grateful to you both. iv Thank you to my very best friend and fiancée, Dusan Namasivayam. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Thank you for being my right hand and better half during both my undergraduate and doctorate studies. I wouldn’t be where I am today or who I am today, without you. Thank you Dr. Aarthi Ashok for being my inspiration and for your constant support and advice during both my undergraduate and graduate studies. Thank you to my co-author Dr. Sharlene Santana for helping me use phylogenetic comparative methods in R, which have now become the staple of the studies I do. Thank you to my sisters, Jenodini Thiagavel and Jerubika Thiagavel, for all the laughs and for being my personal cheerleaders in life. The support I have received from you girls is a huge reason for my success. Thank you Blessing Goddey-Erikefe, for always being there for me as my longest and closest girl friend. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Thank you to my dear lab-mates and friends Livia Loureiro, Heather Mayberry, Cylita Guy and A. Vikram Chochinov, for making this journey enjoyable for me. Thank you as well to my co-authors for their contributions to our papers. Study- specific acknowledgements to individuals and funding agencies can be found at the end of each chapter. My Ph. D. is dedicated to my father, Sivanandam Thiagavel. v Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents vi List of Tables vii List of Figures xi Chapter 1 Synopsis 1 Chapter 2 Body Size Predicts Echolocation Call Peak Frequency 19 Better than Gape Height in Vespertilionid Bats Chapter 3 Auditory Opportunity and Visual Constraint Enabled 44 the Evolution of Echolocation in Bats Chapter 4 Sensory and Cognitive Correlates of Life-history 120 Traits in Predatory Bats Chapter 5 Sensory and Cognitive Ecology of Phyllostomid Bats 159 Chapter 6 Concluding Remarks 212 vi List of Tables Chapter 2 Table 1. The fit of different evolutionary models (AICc values are shown). Supplementary Table S1. Size and call parameters for the vespertilionid species used in the study (N=86). Chapter 3 Supplementary Table 1. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted data (log transformed body mass, brain volume, eye mass, and brain regions) among foraging strategies (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-values). Supplementary Table 2. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted data (mass residuals of brain volume, eye mass, and brain regions) among foraging strategies (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-values). Supplementary Table 3. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted data (log transformed body mass, brain volume, eye mass, and brain regions) among echolocating call type (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p- values). vii Supplementary Table 4. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted data (mass residuals of total brain volume, eye mass, and brain regions) among echolocating call type (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-values). Supplementary Table 5. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted data (log transformed body mass, brain volume, eye mass, and brain regions) among call type in predatory bats (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-values). Supplementary Table 6. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted data (mass residuals of total brain volume, eye mass, and brain regions) among call type in predatory bats (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-values). Supplementary Table 7. Specimen numbers for the skulls from Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) or Museum of Natural History in Denmark (MNHD). Supplementary Table 8. Species categorized as having either a functional (YES) or non-functional (NO) short-wave opsin (SWS) gene. Species from our dataset are shown in bold. Supplementary Table 9. Species, trait values, and categorizations by call type (MH: multiharmonic, CF: constant frequency, DH: Fundamental harmonic frequency modulated, NLE: non-laryngeal echolocator), diet (A: animal eating, P: phytophagous), echolocation ability (LE: laryngeal echolocator, NLE: nonlaryngeal echolocator) and roost type (I: roosts internally; E: roosts externally). viii Chapter 4 Table 1. Species, categorizations, trait values for predatory bats. Table 2. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted residuals of eye mass among call design and roost preference (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-values). Table 3. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted residuals of hippocampus mass among migratory status and foraging strategy (t- and in parentheses, Holm- Bonferroni corrected p-values). Table 4. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted residuals of superior colliculus mass among migratory status and call design (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-values). Table 5. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted residuals of neocortex mass among foraging strategy and call design (t-values and in parentheses, Holm- Bonferroni corrected p-values). Table 6. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted residuals of neocortex mass among migration status and call design (t-values and in parentheses, Holm- Bonferroni corrected p-values). Table 7. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted residuals of neocortex mass among migratory status and foraging strategy (t-values and in parentheses, Holm- Bonferroni corrected p-values). ix Table 8. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted residuals of brain mass among foraging strategy and call design (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-values). Table 9. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted residuals of brain mass among migration status and call design (t-values and in parentheses, Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-values). Table 10. Post hoc comparisons of phylogenetically adjusted residuals of brain mass among migratory status and foraging strategy (t-values and in parentheses, Holm- Bonferroni corrected p-values).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rainforest Plant Developed 'Sonar Dish' to Attract Pollinating Bats
    Rainforest plant developed 'sonar dish' to attract pollinating bats How plants sound as well as how they look helps them to attract pollinators, a new study has found. Researchers discovered that a rainforest vine, pollinated by bats, has evolved dish-shaped leaves with such conspicuous echoes that nectar-feeding bats can find its flowers twice as fast by echolocation. Flowering inflorescence of Marcgravia evenia. (A) dish-shaped leaf, (B) ring of flowers most of them in the male phase with anthers shedding pollen, (C) cup-like nectaries. How plants sound as well as how they look helps them to attract pollinators, a new study by scientists at the University of Bristol, UK, and the Universities of Erlangen and Ulm, Germany has found. The researchers discovered that a rainforest vine, pollinated by bats, has evolved dish-shaped leaves with such conspicuous echoes that nectar-feeding bats can find its flowers twice as fast by echolocation. The study is published in Science. While it is well known that the bright colours of flowers serve to attract visually-guided pollinators such as bees and birds, little research has been done to see whether plants which rely on echolocating bats for pollination and seed dispersal have evolved analogous echo-acoustic signals. The Cuban rainforest vine Marcgravia evenia has developed a distinctively shaped concave leaf next to its flowers which, the researchers noticed, is reminiscent of a dish reflector. By analyzing the leaf's acoustic reflection properties, they found that it acts as an ideal echo beacon, sending back strong, multidirectional echoes with an easily recognizable, and unvarying acoustic signature -- perfect for making the flower obvious to echolocating bats.
    [Show full text]
  • Education Research Experience
    Rochelle Kelly Curriculum Vitae 472 Life Sciences Building Ph.D. Candidate University of Washington [email protected] Seattle WA, 98195 EDUCATION 2013- 2018 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Dissertation Title: Diversity, distributions, and ecology of bats among the San Juan Islands. Advisor: Dr. Sharlene Santana 2013 B.S. Conservation & Resource Studies, High Honors, University of California, Berkeley, CA Honors thesis: Influence of landscape heterogeneity on bat activity in vineyards. Advisor: Dr. Erica Bree Rosenblum 2007 A.S. Veterinary Technology, Western Career College, Pleasant Hill, CA RESEARCH EXPERIENCE 2018 Genetic and morphological diversity of Myotis spp. in Washington State. Collected morphometric and genetic data to compare patterns morphological and genetic diversity among two Pacific Northwest Myotis spp. (M. lucifugus and M. yumanensis) across Washington State. Department of Biology and the Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Advisor: Dr. Sharlene Santana. 2013-2018 Diversity, distributions, and ecology of bats among the San Juan Islands. Carried out field and lab work to collect and analyze tissue, guano, & distribution data from bats among the San Juan Islands to study diversity and distribution patterns. Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Advisor: Dr. Sharlene Santana. 2014-2018 Comparison of morphological and molecular identification of Washington’s Myotis spp. Designed and managed course project for BIOL/FISH 340, where students carried out morphological and molecular identification of Myotis spp. that were submitted to the Washington Department of Health for Rabies testing. Department of Biology and the Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Advisor: Dr. Sharlene Santana and Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • © Copyright 2019 Rochelle M. Kelly
    © Copyright 2019 Rochelle M. Kelly Diversity, distributions, and activity of bats in the San Juan Islands Rochelle M. Kelly A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2019 Reading Committee: Sharlene E. Santana, Chair Adam D. Leaché Cori Lausen Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Biology University of Washington Abstract Diversity, distributions, and activity of bats in the San Juan Islands Rochelle M. Kelly Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Sharlene E. Santana Biology The loss and fragmentation of natural habitats are some of the greatest threats to terrestrial biodiversity. Much of the practice of conservation science is rooted in Island Biogeography Theory (IBT). IBT postulates that species richness on islands is driven by a dynamic equilibrium between the effects of area on extinction rates and the effects of isolation on colonization rates. However, studies of plants and animals on oceanic islands and man-made habitat islands suggest that IBT needs to be broadened to consider additional habitat characteristics beyond area and isolation. Additionally, species-specific differences in ecology, life-history, morphology, and mobility are all implicated to mediate how species respond to habitat fragmentation. In Chapter one, I investigated how island area, isolation, and habitat quality influence species richness in a naturally fragmented landscape - The San Juan Archipelago. I also examined whether ecological traits or morphological traits associated with mobility mediate species-specific distribution and activity patterns on the islands. I found that species richness increased on larger islands, but was not affected by habitat quality or isolation at this scale.
    [Show full text]
  • Mammalogy Newsletter 3.30.16
    2016 Mammalogy Collection Newsletter SHARLENE E. SANTANA – CURATOR JEFFREY E. BRADLEY – COLLECTION MANAGER A GREAT YEAR FOR MAMMALOGY Greetings from the Burke Museum’s Mammalogy Collection! We are excited to provide you with the first installment of our annual newsletter, which highlights some of our major achievements in 2015. We had a busy and productive year, as we continued to fulfill the collection’s mission to archive mammal diversity, support scientific inquiry, and contribute to science teaching and public outreach within Washington State and beyond. 2015 Activity Summary The collection continued its steady growth in 2015, thanks to fieldwork Specimens catalogued 697 efforts by Mammalogy staff, institutional partnerships, and chance events, Research visits 387 as detailed in several sections within this newsletter. The collection Research projects at the Burke 27 continued to receive specimens from large scale research initiatives in Specimens examined at the Burke 2,419 Washington State, including the Elwha River Dam Removal and the Mt. St. Specimens loaned 426 Helens Biodiversity Monitoring Project. Scientific publications 18 Students served 420 Visitors engaged in public outreach 1,600+ Mammalogy specimens were used in a wide variety of research projects, spanning the fields of biology, engineering, archeology, paleontology and art. Previous research at Burke Mammalogy yielded 18 scientific publications in 2015 (full list on page 6). Eleven classes, serving 420 students at the University of Washington, the Northwest School, Alderleaf Wilderness College, and Seattle Public Schools used specimens from the collection to provide hands-on learning experiences. Last November, over 1,000 visitors came through the Burke’s door for the 10th annual Meet the Mammals family day.
    [Show full text]
  • Do Roost-Excavating Bats Have Stronger Skulls?
    Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 102, 1–10. With 3 figures Do roost-excavating bats have stronger skulls? SHARLENE E. SANTANA1* and ELIZABETH R. DUMONT2 1Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA 2Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA Received 14 April 2010; accepted for publication 27 July 2010bij_1551 1..10 In addition to feeding, many vertebrates use their skulls for other functions that are highly relevant to fitness. One such function is roost excavation by the bat Lophostoma silvicolum. Males of this species use their canines to create cavities inside active termite nests, which are significantly harder than the prey they eat. Here we investigate whether the skull of L. silvicolum is specialized for roost excavation relative to the ecologically similar species Tonatia saurophila and Micronycteris hirsuta, which do not excavate roosts. We conducted a finite element analysis that simulated roost excavating and feeding behaviours. These analyses were informed by our observations of feeding and roost-excavating behaviours, bite force, and dissections of the cranial musculature of the three bat species. During the simulation of roost excavation (bilateral canine biting), our data indicate that most regions of the skull of L. silvicolum exhibit less stress than those of T. saurophila and M. hirsuta; however, the latter exhibited the lowest peak stress at the zygomatic arches. During loads that simulate feeding (bilateral molar biting), the three species exhibit similar stress levels. It is not clear whether L. silvicolum has a skull shape that is stronger under the loads imposed by excavation, but it does exhibit relatively higher bilateral canine bite forces that are generated via relatively larger temporalis muscles.
    [Show full text]
  • How Evolution Made the Monkey Face
    DATA The Matrix HOWHOW EVOLUTIONEVOLUTION MMAADEDE TTHHEE MONKEYMONKEY FFAACECE The complexity, or lack thereof, on a simian’s face reveals a great deal about its society. curious thing happens to white-faced capuchin monkeys Santana found that the complexity of a species’ facial color when they anoint their bodies with mud and plant mat- patterns is tightly linked to certain social systems. Species that ter, a natural insect repellent: With their heads and faces live in larger groups tend to have plainer faces than those living in Aslathered in goop, these highly social primates lose their ability to smaller groups. Primates in large social groups most likely benefit recognize each other. Previously friendly monkeys can become from plain faces that allow for a greater range of expressions, she fighting foes. This abrupt change in behavior hints at the impor- explains. But among primates in smaller groups (and those that tance of facial expressions for recognition, University of Wash- live near many different species, regardless of group size), more ington evolutionary biologist Sharlene Santana says, and could complex patterning makes it easier to recognize members of their help to explain why primate faces are so wildly divergent: Some own species, so they can focus their mating efforts and territorial species, like white-faced capuchins, have monotone hair and skin disputes where it counts. color; others, like the northern owl monkey, sport a dramatic mix The connection between group size and facial evolution tells us of fur and flesh tones. something about our own ancient history too, since human faces Biologists have long seen primates’ facial expressions during are about as plain as it gets.
    [Show full text]
  • Curriculum Vitae, August 2013 2
    Elizabeth R. Dumont Department of Biology University of Massachusetts 221 Morrill Science Center Amherst, MA 01003-9297 Tel: 413 545-3565 Fax: 413 545-3243 E-mail: [email protected] Lab web page: www.biomesh.org Education Ph.D. 1993 S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook, Anthropology M.A. 1989 S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook, Anthropology B.A. 1985 Indiana University (Bloomington), Anthropology (with honors) Academic Positions 2009 - present Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 2006 - 2009 Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 2001 - 2006 Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 1996 - 2001 Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine 1996 - present Research Associate, Section of Mammals, Carnegie Museum of Natural History 1993 - 1996 Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine Grant Support 2014-2019 National Science Foundation, Collaborative Research, “Discovering genomic and developmental mechanisms that underlie sensory innovations critical to adaptive diversification.” (P.I.) Direct Costs: $294,092, Indirect costs: $158,736 2014-2017 National Science Foundation, Collaborative Research, “Strain in cartilaginous fish skeletons” (P.I.) Direct Costs: $ 139,371, Indirect Costs: $ 82,229 2010-2012 National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Education, “Seeing the Forest and the Trees” (P.I.) Direct Costs: $135,217, Indirect Costs: $64,774 2008 - 2012 National Science Foundation, Division of Biological Databases and Bioinformatics, “Biomesh: A digital resource collection on the biology- engineering interface” (P.I.) Direct Costs: $670,425 (includes $7,500 REU supplement) Indirect Costs: $320,913 2006 Research Leadership Award.
    [Show full text]
  • Revista Nicaraguense De Biodiversidad
    ISSN 2413-337X REVISTA NICARAGUENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD N° 18. ______________________________ Agosto 2017 Nouvelles Idées et Nouvelles Recherches. Nouveaux livres. Pierre Jolivet PUBLICACIÓN DEL MUSEO ENTOMOLÓGICO ASOCIACIÓN NICARAGÜENSE DE ENTOMOLOGÍA LEÓN - - - NICARAGUA REVISTA NICARAGUENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD. No.18. 2017. La Revista Nicaragüense de Biodiversidad (ISSN 2413-337X) es una publicación que pretende apoyar a la divulgación de los trabajos realizados en Nicaragua en este tema. Todos los artículos que en ella se publican son sometidos a un sistema de doble arbitraje por especialistas en el tema. The Revista Nicaragüense de Biodiversidad (ISSN 2413-337X) is a journal created to help a better divulgation of the research in this field in Nicaragua. Two independent specialists referee all published papers. Consejo Editorial Jean Michel Maes Editor Museo Entomológico Nicaragua Milton Salazar Eric P. van den Berghe Herpetonica, Nicaragua ZAMORANO, Honduras Editor para Herpetología. Editor para Peces. Liliana Chavarria Arnulfo Medina ALAS, El Jaguar Nicaragua Editor para Aves. Editor para Mamíferos. Oliver Komar Estela Yamileth Aguilar ZAMORANO, Honduras Alvarez Editor para Ecología. ZAMORANO, Honduras Editor para Biotecnología. Indiana Coronado Missouri Botanical Garden/ Herbario HULE-UNAN León Editor para Botánica. _______________ Portada: Entimus imperialis (Forster) Brasil. (Curculionidae). (Foto: Ettore Balocchi). 2 REVISTA NICARAGUENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD. No.18. 2017. Nouvelles Idées et Nouvelles Recherches. Pierre Jolivet* Resumen. Nada realmente nuevo en la web. Algunos detalles sobre las manipulaciones de sus huéspedes por parte de parásitos, el descubrimiento de una cucaracha saltarina en Sudáfrica, la influencia de los trips sobre la fecundación de las plantas del pasado, más detalles sobre los Heliconius, estas esplendidas mariposas americanas, nuevas discusiones sobre la coevolución, aun no borradas de los tratados evolucionistas.
    [Show full text]
  • Plant Attractants: Integrating Insights from Pollination and Seed Dispersal Ecology
    Evol Ecol DOI 10.1007/s10682-016-9870-3 Plant attractants: integrating insights from pollination and seed dispersal ecology 1 2 2 Kim Valenta • Omer Nevo • Carlos Martel • Colin A. Chapman1,3,4 Received: 29 February 2016 / Accepted: 22 October 2016 Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 Abstract Reproduction in many angiosperms depends on attracting animals that provide pollination and seed dispersal services. Flowers and fleshy fruits present various features that can attract animal mutualists through visual, olfactory, acoustic, and tactile cues and signals, and some of these traits may result from selection exerted by pollinators and seed dispersers. Plant attractants can provide information regarding the presence, location, and quality of the reward. However, because of the different functional outcomes of pollination and seed dispersal, pollination systems are thought to be more highly specialized than seed dispersal systems. Despite these interesting parallels and contrasts, theoretical and empirical insights in the sensory ecology of pollination and seed dispersal are rarely considered together. Here, we review extant theory and data of sensory attractants from both pollination and seed dispersal systems. We discuss theoretical and empirical simi- larities and differences between pollination and seed dispersal and offer suggestions for ways in which insights from each field may benefit the other in future. Keywords Animal–plant interactions Á Communication Á Coevolution Á Foraging ecology Á Mutualism Á Sensory ecology & Kim Valenta [email protected] 1 Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada 2 Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10-1, 89081 Ulm, Germany 3 McGill School of Environment, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada 4 Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY, USA 123 Evol Ecol Introduction For many plant species, particularly angiosperms, reproduction requires animals as polli- nators, seed dispersers, or both (Schaefer et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Saving Malaysia's Fruit Bats Research Group Led by Former BCI Student Scholar Promotes Education and Coexistence
    JOIN US FOR OCTOBER 24-31, 2020 ISSUE 3 • 2020 BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL BATCON.ORG Saving Malaysia's Fruit Bats Research group led by former BCI student scholar promotes education and coexistence INSIDE 06 Fish-eating Myotis 14 Leaps in Bat Genomics 25 Backyard "Bativists" Are you a bat photographer? Bat Conservation International is working to collect images of bats from all over the world and we would love to include your photo in our next issue of Bats Magazine. You keep the rights and photo credit. We help archive and share your work. Please submit high-resolution images (at least 300 DPI or 2K resolution) along with specific species information and the photographer's name for photo credit. To submit your photos, please email submissions@ batcon.org. PHOTO: MICHAEL DURHAM / MINDEN PICTURES ISSUE 3 • 2020 Inside this Issue 14 FEATURES 08 SAVING MALAYSIA'S FRUIT BATS Research group led by former BCI student scholar promotes education and coexistence 14 OUT OF THE DARKNESS Big leaps in genomics illuminate the animals' most closely held biological secrets DEPARTMENTS 02 OFF THE BAT Mike Daulton, BCI executive director, explains why the future needs us all 06 SPECIES STUDY A look at the Myotis vivesi 24 BAT CHAT Dr. Liliana Dávalos 25 BAT SQUAD Backyard "bativists" Read back issues of Pale spear-nosed bat Bats Magazine at batcon.org/ (Phyllostomus discolor) batsmag. Photo: Jose Gabriel Martinez Fonseca 03 BAT SIGNALS 18 FIELD NOTES BCI news and Research news from conservation updates around the globe > Apply for a BCI student > Ultrasonic recorders research scholarship help researchers > BCI named Evidence detect bats remotely UPDATES Champion Photos from our & > > Virtual Bat Week bat-loving readers > North American Society ON THE COVER for Bat Research turns 50 Protecting Malaysia's bats by providing education to NEWS 04 farmers and tourists.
    [Show full text]
  • The Conservation Value of Residential Landscapes for Native Bird Communities: Patterns, Processes, and Management Implications
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Open Access Dissertations 9-2011 The Conservation Value of Residential Landscapes for Native Bird Communities: Patterns, Processes, and Management Implications Susannah Beth Lerman University of Massachusetts Amherst, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Lerman, Susannah Beth, "The Conservation Value of Residential Landscapes for Native Bird Communities: Patterns, Processes, and Management Implications" (2011). Open Access Dissertations. 464. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/464 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE CONSERVATION VALUE OF RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPES FOR NATIVE BIRD COMMUNITIES: PATTERNS, PROCESSES, AND MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS A Dissertation Presented by SUSANNAH B. LERMAN Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY September 2011 Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology © Copyright by Susannah B. Lerman 2011 All Rights Reserved THE CONSERVATION VALUE OF RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPES FOR NATIVE BIRD COMMUNITIES: PATTERNS, PROCESSES, AND MANAGEMENT
    [Show full text]
  • An Interview with Sharlene Santana
    © 2019. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Journal of Experimental Biology (2019) 222, jeb210815. doi:10.1242/jeb.210815 CONVERSATION Early-career researchers: an interview with Sharlene Santana Sharlene Santana is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington, USA, where she studies the relationships between morphology, function, behaviour and ecology in bats and other mammals. She is also the Curator of Mammals at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. She received her Licenciatura in Biology from the Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela, in 2004 before completing her PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology in 2010 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA, with Betsy Dumont. Santana then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Michael Alfaro at the Institute for Society and Genetics, the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Can you tell us about your childhood? I grew up in Venezuela, in South America, in a city located in the east of the country called Maturín. I was an only child and my parents divorced when I was very little, so I grew up with my mum’s side of the family, including my grandma and a couple of aunts. Though we lived in the city, we had a large backyard with many fruit trees, and I spent a lot of my free time observing the wild animals that visited us. My mum was a pharmacist and I helped in her pharmacy during my childhood, learning the names of chemicals and drugs. Perhaps because of this, biology and other sciences were my favourite subjects in school. However, I didn’t have a good grasp of what being a scientist was like, or what I had to do to become a scientist.
    [Show full text]