BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 2 • 2018 // BATCON.ORG CHIROPTERAN Research and development seeks to unlock and harness the secrets of bats’ techextraordinary capabilities THE CAVERN SPECIES SPOTLIGHT: THE SWEETEST OF YOUTH TRI-COLORED BAT FRUITS BECOME a MONTHLY SUSTAINING MEMBER Photo: Vivian Jones Vivian Photo: Grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) When you choose to provide an automatic monthly donation, you allow BCI to plan our conservation programs with confidence, knowing the resources you and other sustaining members provide are there when we need them most. Being a Sustaining Member is also convenient for you, as your monthly gift is automatically transferred from your debit or credit card. It’s safe and secure, and you can change or cancel your allocation at any time. As an additional benefit, you won’t receive membership renewal requests, which helps us reduce our paper and postage costs. 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TO BECOME A SUSTAINING MEMBER TODAY, VISIT BATCON.ORG/SUSTAINING OR SELECT SUSTAINING MEMBER ON THE DONATION ENVELOPE ENCLOSED WITH YOUR DESIRED MONTHLY GIFT AMOUNT. 02 }bats Issue 23 2017 20172018 ISSUE 2 • 2018 bats INSIDE THIS ISSUE FEATURES 08 CHIROPTERAN TECH For sky, sea and land, bats are inspiring waves of new technology THE CAVERN OF YOUTH 12 Bats could help unlock secrets of healthy aging Photo: Laura Kloepper OFF THE BAT [PAGE 6] BAT SQUAD BCI Executive Director Mike Daulton Artist Amanda Kadatz discusses 02 explains why saving bats is “a thing” 21 the inspiration behind her bat art SPECIES SPOTLIGHT MAKING A DIFFERENCE A look at the tri-colored bat Recognizing the many generous 06 23 friends and members who have recently supported BCI BAT CHATS ON THE WING Conservationist, researcher and BCI Bats, agaves and industry 16 scholar Veronica Zamora-Gutierrez 25 Photo: Jim Kennedy/BCI Jim Photo: NEWS & UPDATES BAT SIGNALS FIELD NOTES BCI news and Research news from 03 conservation updates 17 around the globe First-ever delisting of a bat from The importance of bats for endangered status pollinating pitaya Fungus that causes White-nose A day in the life of Syndrome spreads into Central Texas Bracken Cave Director ON THE COVER Researchers are looking to Two new species of dog-faced Fran Hutchins bats for future technology. TO BECOME A SUSTAINING MEMBER TODAY, VISIT [PAGE 18] BATCON.ORG/SUSTAINING bats named Photo: Michael Durham/ OR SELECT SUSTAINING MEMBER ON THE DONATION ENVELOPE Hutchins/BCI Fran Photo: Minden Pictures ENCLOSED WITH YOUR DESIRED MONTHLY GIFT AMOUNT. batcon.org bats { 01 batoff the A FEW WORDS OF INTRODUCTION FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT BCI Bat Conservation International (BCI) is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to protecting bats and their One Bat at a Time essential habitats around the world. A copy of our current financial statement and registration filed by By MIKE DAULTON the organization may be obtained by contacting our office in Austin, below, or by visiting batcon.org. hen I tell people what I do the extraordinary and unusual wall- Main Office Washington DC for a living (“I save bats,” I climbing bats, but from all bats. 500 North Capital of 1012 14th Street NW like to say), sometimes I get In the field of biomimicry, Texas Highway, Building 1 Suite 905 W Austin, TX 78746 Washington, D.C. 20005 a quizzical look. “I didn’t know that scientists look to nature for 512-327-9721 512-327-9721 was a thing,” is a response I’ve heard solutions to real-world problems. more than once. Scientists have studied shark skin Editor Usually what transpires next is a to learn how to make hydrodynamic Katie Jepson quick explanation from me of why swimming suits. They have studied Publication Management GLC saving bats is, in fact, a thing. Bats spider silk to Bats welcomes queries from writers. Send your article are incredibly valuable ecologically, learn how to proposal in a brief outline form and a description of I tell them. They pollinate, they make strong, TALK TO US any photos, charts or other graphics to the Editor at . control insects, they spread seeds lightweight Share your thoughts [email protected] in the rainforest. Bats not only help synthetic fibers. and feedback with Members: We welcome your feedback. Please send letters to the Editor at . Changes keep our environment healthy and Because bats have Bats magazine at [email protected] [email protected]. of address may be sent to [email protected] in balance, they help farmers too. such amazing or to BCI at our Austin, Texas, address above. Please allow We need them, and they are gravely abilities, they too four weeks for the change of address to take effect. threatened here in America and are emerging as a From time to time, BCI exchanges mailing lists with all over the world. Usually, that’s wellspring of potential insights. other like-minded conservation groups to make more enough for a light to go on. Bats have unique flight dexterity, people aware of the importance of bats. If you wish But it also isn’t the whole story. As a unique ability to communicate to opt out of these exchanges, please let us know at . a reader of Bats magazine, you know and navigate by echolocation, and [email protected] that bats have amazing abilities. unusual longevity for the animal Founder: Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle My most recent favorite example is world. Scientists are studying bat Board of Directors Dr. Cullen Geiselman, Chair Donald R. Kendall, Jr. Spix’s disk-winged bat, which can genomes to gain insights about Steven P. Quarles, Dr. Gary McCracken climb a wall like Spider-Man. As human aging, bat echolocation to Vice Chair Alexander R. Read this issue of our magazine shows create better self-driving cars, and Danielle Gustafson, Dr. Wes Sechrest us, we all have much to gain by bat flight to develop better drones. Treasurer Susan Wallace learning all we can, not just from Bats are valuable not just for what C. Andrew Marcus, Joe Walston Secretary George ‘Timo’ Hixon they do for us in nature but Dr. Charles C. Chester Eileen Arbues Talk about a tech-head! This biomimetic robotic sonor for what we can learn from head was inspired by the distinct facial features of Science Advisory Committee horseshoe bats. them to advance our goals as a civilization. Dr. Kate Jones (emeritus) Dr. Paul Racey If bats were to vanish, all Dr. Tigga Kingston Dr. Charles Rupprecht Dr. Gary McCracken, Dr. Thomas O’Shea of that value would be lost. Board liaison Dr. Stuart Parsons That’s why we all should be Dr. Rodrigo Medellín Dr. Nancy Simmons concerned that the global rate of extinction is 100 to 1,000 Senior Staff Mike Daulton, Executive Director times higher than it was before Kevin Pierson, Chief Conservation Officer humans came on the scene Mylea Bayless, Senior Director, Network and Partnerships tearing down forests and Winifred Frick, Chief Scientist, Conservation Science paving over wild habitat. Kenda Lovecchio, Chief Development Officer It’s why saving bats is a thing. Visit BCI’s website at batcon.org and the following social media sites: Mike Daulton Facebook.com/batcon Twitter.com/BatConIntl Photo: Logan Wallace / Virginia Tech BCI Executive Director 02 }bats Issue 2 2018 SUCCESSFUL RECOVERY bat BCI UPDATES AND CONSERVATION NEWS A Historic Moment First-ever delisting of a bat from endangered status Every year, April 17 marks Bat Appreciation Day—a celebration of bats and the critical role they play for the planet. This year, there was an extra special reason to celebrate—the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) had recovered to the point of being removed from the U.S. endangered species list. This marks the first time a bat species has been delisted due to recovery. The lesser long-nosed bat was first listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1988, when less than 1,000 individuals at 14 known roosting sites were identified. Today, there are an estimated 200,000 individuals at 75 known roost locations in the South- west U.S. and Mexico. Dr. Rodrigo Medellín, a senior professor at the Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, as well as a member of BCI’s scientific advisory committee, spearheaded recovery efforts in Mexico, where the species was removed from Mexico’s equivalent of the endangered species list in 2015. > Lesser long-nosed bat BRINGING AGAVE BACK (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) feeds Learn more about BCI’s agave restoration efforts on pollen from an agave blossom. at batcon.org/batsneedagave. Photo: Bruce Taubert D. batcon.org bats { 03 bat Ten bat species have been confirmed with White–nose Syndrome in North America. RESEARCH “The story of the lesser long-nosed bat shows that conservation and science can work together to provide species the chance to recover and persist,” says Winifred Frick, BCI’s Chief Scientist. “Scientists and conservation groups in both Mexico and the U.S. have worked together over the years toward recov- ering these bats; it’s an exciting success story for collaborative conservation efforts and the Endangered Species Act.” BCI is proud to work alongside partners to create positive change for this and other imperiled bat species across the U.S. and abroad. Roost disturbance and destruction are the primary threats Cave myotis are one of the species identified to the lesser long-nosed bat. BCI’s Sub- with diagnostic symptoms of WNS.