Pteropodidae  

Primary tabs

EOL Text

Pteropodids have been known to live at least 30 years, both in captivity and in the wild.

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Sourcehttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pteropodidae/

Reproduction:

Mating behavior in pteropodids is highly variable, and much is unknown. The males of one genus (Hypsignathus) set up lekking territories twice a year and draw in females with unique vocalizations and wing-flapping displays. Male epauletted fruit bats (genus Epomophorus) often display their concealed epaulets (hair tufts near the shoulder) and emit courting calls to attract females. Many species form harems consisting of 1 dominant male and up to 37 females, while bachelor males roost separately.

Mating System: polygynous ; polygynandrous (promiscuous)

While most bats have one reproduction event per year, many pteropodids are polyestrous, with two seasonal cycles corresponding to the annual wet and dry seasons. Usually one young is born per pregnancy, but twins are not uncommon. Upon fertilization, ova implantation in the uteri can be immediate or delayed, probably in response to the environment. Development of the embryo (once implanted) may also be delayed, probably to ensure birth at a time when fruit is available during the rainy seasons. One species, Macroglossus minimus, exhibits asynchronous breeding and sperm storage, suggesting the importance of birth during an optimal (rainy) season.

Pregnant females usually leave social roosts to form nursery groups with other pregnant females. Females in nursery roosts form their own social network and take care of each other through mutual grooming. Gestation periods usually lasts 4 to 6 months, but can be longer if implantation is delayed. Birth patterns of pteropodids have been widely studied and usually occur during the wet periods both in the northern latitudes (February to April) and the southern latitudes (August to November). Species that are polyestrous will give birth during both of these rainy seasons. It is predicted that birth during these seasons yields high survival rates because lactation occurs when fruit availability is at a maximum. Birth is followed by postpartum estrous and subsequent mating. After weaning, young may stay with their mothers up to 4 months. Sexual maturity in juveniles is reached by 2 years old or earlier. Female sexual maturity is reached earlier than in males.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous ; delayed implantation ; post-partum estrous

Female pteropodids are primarily responsible for rearing the young. Lactation lasts anywhere from 7 weeks to 4 months, and the mother may care for her young slightly longer. In one genus (Dyacopterus), males with functional mammary glands have been reported lactating, which suggests the sharing of juvenile care among both parents.

Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)

  • Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Hood, C., J. Smith. 1989. Sperm storage in a tropical nectar-feeding bat, Macroglossus minimus (Pteropodidae). Journal of Mammalogy, 70: 404-406.
  • Kofron, C. 2007. Reproduction of the dusky fruit bat Penthetor lucasi (Pteropodidae) in Brunei, Borneo. Mammalia: 166-171.
  • Kretschmann, K., R. Hayes. 2004. Old World Fruit Bats I (Pteropus). Pp. 319-332 in M Hutchins, A Evans, J Jackson, eds. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Vol. 13: Mammals II, 2 Edition. Detroit: Gale.
  • Storz, J., H. Bhat, T. Kunz. 2000. Social structure of a polygynous tent-making bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Megachiroptera). Journal of Zoology, London, 251: 151-165.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Sourcehttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pteropodidae/

Statistics of barcoding coverage:

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records:2242
Specimens with Sequences:1324
Specimens with Barcodes:1273
Species:90
Species With Barcodes:69
Public Records:786
Public Species:42
Public BINs:45

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorSujeevan Ratnasingham, Paul D.N. Hebert, Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)
Sourcehttp://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=1043

Barcode data:

Access Published & Released Data: Download FASTA File

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorSujeevan Ratnasingham, Paul D.N. Hebert, Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)
Sourcehttp://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=1043

Many factors threaten pteropodids throughout their range. Human activities have decimated populations of certain species directly through hunting or indirectly through habitat destruction. In Asia and Australia, deforestation is the most important contributor to pteropodid population decline. Some species are vulnerable to typhoons and hurricanes which may destroy roosting habitat on islands. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists 5 species as recently extinct, 10 species as critically endangered, 19 species as endangered, 15 species as near threatened, and 39 species as vulnerable, suggesting that nearly half of all pteropodid species face significant threats to population viability.

  • IUCN 2008, 2008. "2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species" (On-line). Accessed February 16, 2009 at http://www.iucnredlist.org/.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Sourcehttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pteropodidae/

Many crop species are attractive food sources for pteropodids. Because cultivars are often developed from wild species, these commercial crops have the same characteristics that wild plants evolved to attract bats to their fruit. Fruit growers have experimented with visual, audio, and olfactory deterrents as well as electric wire to keep pteropodids from eating their crops. Pteropodids may also be dispersers of invasive plant species, as they consume crops introduced for cultivation and may disperse the seeds into natural habitat. Pteropodids have been indicated as reservoirs for a variety of viruses such as Ebola and other viruses in the family Paramyxoviridae. Hendra virus, Menangle virus, and Nipah virus have all been linked to pteropodids.

Negative Impacts: injures humans (carries human disease); crop pest

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Sourcehttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pteropodidae/

Larger species of pteropodids are hunted for their meat. Both subsistence and commercial hunting of Pteropus species have been reported. Consumer demand for Pteropus species on the island of Guam has been so great that it has resulted in the extinction of at least one species in the Pacific region. Flying foxes are also important in the dispersal and pollination of economically important plants. They attract tourists in some areas and produce accumulations of guano that can be used as fertilizer.

Positive Impacts: food ; ecotourism ; produces fertilizer; pollinates crops

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Sourcehttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pteropodidae/

Members of Pteropodidae are known colloquially as the flying foxes, or Old World fruit bats. The family is composed of 41 genera and about 170 species. The most species-rich genus in the family is Pteropus with 59 species, many of which are island endemics. Body and wing size ranges from small (37 mm forearm length) to large (220 mm forearm length). The family boasts the largest bats in the world. Pteropus vampyrus individuals have a wingspan of up to 1.7 m. Pteropus giganteus individuals have a comparable wingspan but a greater mass, with males weighing between 1.3 and 1.6 kg. Pteropodids are strictly vegetarian, foraging for fruits, nectar, and pollen using their sight and a sensitive olfactory system. Bats of the genus Rousettus use tongue clicks as a crude form of echolocation while navigating in the dark. Some species are migratory, covering vast distances, while others have more moderate home ranges. Eidolon helvum individuals aggregate in numbers reaching the hundreds of thousands, yet many species roost with only a few conspecifics. Members of Pteropodidae service the ecosystems they inhabit by playing important roles as pollinators and seed dispersers.

  • Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Fenton, M. 2001. Bats, Revised Edition. New York, NY: Checkmark Books.
  • Neuweiler, G. 2000. The Biology of Bats. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Koopman, K. 1994. Handbook of Zoology, Band/Volume VIII Mammalia. Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter & Co..
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Sourcehttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pteropodidae/

Megabat:
"Fruit bat" redirects here. For other uses, see Fruit Bat (disambiguation).

Megabats constitute the suborder Megachiroptera, family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera (bats). They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats,[1] or, especially the genera Acerodon and Pteropus, flying foxes. Fruit bats are restricted to the Old World in a tropical and subtropical distribution, ranging no further than the eastern Mediterranean and South Asia, and are absent from northwest Africa and southwest Australia.[2][3]



Description[edit]


Spectacled flying fox (Pteropus conspicillatus)

Megabats, however contrary to their name, are not always large; the smallest species is 6 cm (2.4 in) long and thus smaller than some microbats.[4] The largest attain a wingspan of 1.7 m (5.6 ft), weighing in at up to 1.6 kg (3.5 lb).[5] Most fruit bats have large eyes, allowing them to orient themselves visually in twilight and inside caves and forests.

Their sense of smell is excellent. In contrast to the microbats, the fruit bats do not use echolocation (with one exception, the Egyptian fruit bat Rousettus egyptiacus, which uses high-pitched tongue clicks to navigate in caves).[6]

Loss of echolocation[edit]

Megabats make up the only family (Pteropodidae) in order Chiroptera that is not capable of laryngeal echolocation, unlike the microbat. Echolocation and flight evolved early in the lineage of chiropterans and echolocation was later lost in family Pteropodidae.[7] Both echolocation and flight are energetically expensive processes for bats.[8] The nature of the flight and echolocation mechanism of bats allows for creation of echolocation pulses with minimal energy use.[9] Energetic coupling of these two processes is thought to have allowed for both energetically expensive processes to evolve in bats. The loss of echolocation may be due to the uncoupling of flight and echolocation in megabats.[10] The larger average body size of megabats compared to echolocating bats[11] suggests that a larger body size disrupts the flight-echolocation coupling and made echolocation too energetically expensive to be conserved in megabats.[10]

Behavior and ecology[edit]

Megabats mostly roost in trees and shrubs. Only those that possess echolocation venture into the dark recesses of caves. Because they eat fruit, some megabat species are unpopular with orchard owners. Megabats are frugivorous or nectarivorous, i.e., they eat fruits or lick nectar from flowers. Often, the fruits are crushed and only the juices are consumed. The teeth are adapted to bite through hard fruit skins. Large fruit bats must land to eat fruit, while the smaller species are able to hover with flapping wings in front of a flower or fruit.[citation needed]

Frugivorous bats aid the distribution of plants (and therefore forests) by carrying the fruits with them and spitting the seeds or eliminating them elsewhere. Nectarivores actually pollinate visited plants. They bear long tongues that are inserted deep into the flower; pollen passed to the bat is then transported to the next blossom visited, thereby pollinating it. This relationship between plants and bats is a form of mutualism known as chiropterophily. Examples of plants that benefit from this arrangement include the baobabs of the genus Adansonia and the sausage tree (Kigelia).

As disease reservoirs[edit]

Fruit bats have been found to act as reservoirs for a number of diseases that are fatal to humans and domestic animals,[12] but the bats themselves sometimes have no signs of infection. [13] A different species has emerged in Ivory Coast, another West African country, just east of Guinea and Liberia. According to a study, the virus in West Africa seems to have diverged from its lineage in Central Africa just within the past decade. It somehow leapfrogged over or around the Ivory Coast ebolavirus to situate itself in southeastern Guinea. That suggests the unnerving prospect that the Central African ebolavirus (the only one strictly known as Ebola virus) is expanding its range, either by infecting new populations of reservoir hosts or by migrations of those host animals.[14]

Three species of bats tested positive for Ebola, but had no symptoms of the virus.[12] This indicates the bats may be acting as a reservoir for the virus. Of the infected animals identified during these field collections, immunoglobulin G (IgG) specific for Ebola virus was detected in hammer-headed bats, Franquet's epauletted fruit bats, and little collared fruit bats.[15]

The epidemical Marburg virus was found in 2007 in specimens of the Egyptian fruit bat, confirming the suspicion this species may be a reservoir for this dangerous virus.[16]

Other viral diseases which can be carried by fruit bats include Australian bat lyssavirus and Henipavirus (notably Hendra virus and Nipah virus), both of which can prove fatal to humans. These bats have been shown to infect other species (specifically horses) with Hendra virus in Australian regions. Later, humans became infected with Hendra virus after being exposed to horse body fluids and excretions.[17]

Fruit bats are considered a delicacy by South Pacific Islanders, as well as in Micronesia. Consumption has been suggested as a cause of Lytico-Bodig disease on the Micronesian island of Guam, through bioaccumulation of a plant toxin to which the bats are immune.[18]

Classification[edit]


Head of a masked flying fox or fruit bat (Pteropus personatus)


Livingstone's fruit bat Pteropus livingstonii


Fox Island, Australia, is believed to be home to the largest colony of flying foxes on the continent.

Bats are usually thought to belong to one of two monophyletic groups, a view that is reflected in their classification into two suborders (Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera). According to this hypothesis, all living megabats and microbats are descendants of a common ancestor species that was already capable of flight.

However, other views have been shared, and a vigorous debate persists to this date. For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, some researchers proposed (based primarily on the similarity of the visual pathways) that the Megachiroptera were in fact more closely affiliated with the primates than the Microchiroptera, with the two groups of bats having therefore evolved flight via convergence (see Flying primates theory).[19] However, a recent flurry of genetic studies confirms the more longstanding notion that all bats are indeed members of the same clade, the Chiroptera.[20][21] Other studies have recently suggested that certain families of microbats (possibly the horseshoe bats, mouse-tailed bats, and the false vampires) are evolutionarily closer to the fruit bats than to other microbats.[20][22]

List of species[edit]

The family Pteropodidae is divided into seven subfamilies with 186 total extant species, represented by 44–46 genera:

FAMILY PTEROPODIDAE

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mickleburgh, Hutson and Racey. "Old World Fruit Bats:Introduction". International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved July 19, 2013. 
  2. ^ Kenneth Cody Luzynski; Emily Margaret Sluzas; Megan Marie Wallen. "PteropodidaeOld World fruit bats". Animal Diversity Web/University of Michigan. 
  3. ^ Charles H. Smith. "PTEROPODIDAE (Fruit Bats/Flying Foxes)". MAMMFAUN/University of Kentucy.  (includes range map)
  4. ^ E.g., the Mauritian tomb bat. See Garbutt, Nick. "Mauritian Tomb Bat." Mammals of Madagascar: A Complete Guide. Yale University Press. 2007. p. 67. [1]
  5. ^ Nowak, R. M., editor (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Vol. 1. 6th edition. pp. 264–271. ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
  6. ^ Matti Airas. "Echolocation in bats". HUT, Laboratory of Acoustics and Audio Signal Processing. p. 4. Retrieved July 19, 2013. 
  7. ^ Springer, M.S., E.C. Teeling, O. Madsen, M.J. Stanhope, and W.W. de Jong (2001). "Integrated fossil and molecular data reconstruct bat echolocation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98 (11): 6241–6246. Bibcode:2001PNAS...98.6241S. doi:10.1073/pnas.111551998. PMC 33452. PMID 11353869. 
  8. ^ Speakman, J.R., and P.A. Racey (1991). "No cost of echolocation for bats in flight". Nature 350 (6317): 421–423. Bibcode:1991Natur.350..421S. doi:10.1038/350421a0. PMID 2011191. 
  9. ^ Lancaster, W.C., O.W. Henson, and A.W. Keating (1995). "Respiratory muscle activity in relation to vocalization in flying bats". Journal of Experimental Biology 198 (Pt 1): 175–191. PMID 7891034. 
  10. ^ a b Altringham, J.D. (2011). Echolocation and other senses. New York: Oxford University Press. 
  11. ^ Hutcheon, J.M., and T.J. Garland (1995). "Are megabats big?". Journal of Mammalian Evolution 11 (3/4): 257–277. doi:10.1023/B:JOMM.0000047340.25620.89. 
  12. ^ a b National Geographic, October 2007. "Deadly Contact," David Quammen, pp. 78–105.
  13. ^ Researchers tested fruit bats for the presence of the Ebola virus between 2001 and 2003. Ebola virus is a zoonosis, an animal infection transmissible to humans. The animal in which a zoonosis lives its customary existence, discreetly, over the long term, and without causing symptoms, is called a reservoir host. The reservoir host of Ebola virus is still unknown, even after 38 years of efforts to identify it, since the original 1976 outbreak, although one or more kinds of fruit bats, including the hammer-headed bat, are suspects.
  14. ^ National Geographic "Tracking a serial killer"
  15. ^ National geographic: David Quammen "Tracking Serial killers"
  16. ^ "Deadly Marburg virus discovered in fruit bats". msnbc. August 21, 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-11. 
  17. ^ "Hendra Virus Disease & Nipah Virus Encephalitis Fact Sheet". CDC. Retrieved 2014-02-20. 
  18. ^ Monson, C. S.; Banack, S. A.; Cox, P. A. (2003). "Conservation implications of Chamorro consumption of flying foxes as a possible cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-parkinsonism dementia complex in Guam". Conservation Biology 17 (3): 678–686. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02049.x. 
  19. ^ Pettigrew JD, Jamieson BG, Robson SK, Hall LS, McAnally KI, Cooper HM (1989). "Phylogenetic relations between microbats, megabats and primates (Mammalia: Chiroptera and Primates)". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 325 (1229): 489–559. Bibcode:1989RSPTB.325..489P. doi:10.1098/rstb.1989.0102. 
  20. ^ a b Eick, GN; Jacobs, DS; Matthee, CA (September 2005). "A nuclear DNA phylogenetic perspective on the evolution of echolocation and historical biogeography of extant bats (chiroptera)" (Free full text). Molecular Biology and Evolution 22 (9): 1869–86. doi:10.1093/molbev/msi180. PMID 15930153. Archived from the original on 2009-02-13. 
  21. ^ Simmons, NB; Seymour, KL; Habersetzer, J; Gunnell, GF (2008-02-14). "Primitive Early Eocene bat from Wyoming and the evolution of flight and echolocation". Nature 451 (7180): 818–21. Bibcode:2008Natur.451..818S. doi:10.1038/nature06549. PMID 18270539. recent studies unambiguously support bat monophyly 
  22. ^ Adkins RM, Honeycutt RL (1991). "Molecular phylogeny of the superorder Archonta" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 88 (22): 10317–10321. Bibcode:1991PNAS...8810317A. doi:10.1073/pnas.88.22.10317. PMC 52919. PMID 1658802. 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pteropodidae.

Further reading[edit]

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorWikipedia
Sourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Megabat&oldid=641107927

Pteropodidae has a tropical and subtropical distribution in the Old World (eastern hemisphere). Species are found as far north as the eastern Mediterranean, continuing along the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula and across South Asia. Species are found as far south as South Africa, the islands of the Indian Ocean, and to the northern and western coasts of Australia. The longitudinal range reaches from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the islands of the western Pacific. Pteropodids are absent from northwest Africa, southwest Australia, a majority of the Palearctic region, and all of the Western Hemisphere.

Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); oriental (Native ); ethiopian (Native ); australian (Native ); oceanic islands (Native )

  • Nowak, R. 1994. Walker's Bats of the World. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Mickleburgh, S., A. Hutson, P. Racey. 1992. Old World Fruit Bats: An Action Plan for their Conservation. Gland, Switzerland: International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Sourcehttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pteropodidae/
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith