Featured Post

THIS IS WHAT I DO

Barbed wire | Rescue | THIS IS WHAT I DO checking barbed wire in my own time. volunteer.

Black mouse-eared bat goes green


This is Myotis nigricans from Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Roberto Leonan Morim Novaes

Black mouse-eared bat goes green: First case of a fruit-eating bat in the largest genus

Out of more than 110 allegedly well-studied mouse-eared bat species, there turns out to be one that has been keeping its diet a mystery. Belonging to the largest group of bats, known to be feeding on insects exclusively, the widely common Black mouse-eared bat (Myotis nigricans) is found to also seek fruits. The Brazilian team of researchers, led by biologist Roberto Leonan Morim Novaes, Fiocruz, conducted their work in the Rio de Janeiro's reserve Reserva Ecologica de Guapiacu (REGUA), a 5,500 ha remnant of Atlantic Forest, and have their findings and discussion published in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal.

The unexpected first documentation of fruit consumption in this group of bats happened when the researchers captured a number of bats with mist-nets and kept them alone in cotton bags for about thirty minutes before handling for identification and biometry. Thus, they managed to retrieve feces of the specimens, which showed to contain small seeds. Later, in an experiment, part of the seeds even grew into seedlings. As a result, the scientists report the first fruit consumption within the mouse-eared bat genus, called Myotis, as well as the whole subfamily Myotinae. Their finding might also mean that the examined species plays the ecological role of a seed disperser.
Although the finding is based on a single specimen of Black mouse-eared bat, the researchers reject the possibility of the cotton bags having been previously contaminated with feces of other animals. Dismissed is also the chance of the seeds having been consumed on accident while predation, since the Black mouse-eared bat hunts insects during flight.

Overall, bats are remarkable because of their varied eating habits. Commonly eating insects, there are predatory groups specialised in feeding on other invertebrates, terrestrial vertebrates, fishes or blood. Among the plant-eating, there are those specialised in fruits, flowers or leaves. A few are classified as omnivores and yet few, which are known to be using one category of food exclusively, on rare occasions include an untypical food item to complement their diet. For example, a carnivorous bat may sporadically consume a plant and vice versa.

"The discovery of a well-studied species, previously considered strictly insectivorous, foraging on fruits shows how little we know about the biology and natural history of Neotropical bats," conclude the authors.

Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Pensoft Publishers. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:
Roberto Leonan Novaes, Renan Souza, Edvandro Ribeiro, André Siqueira, Alexandre Greco, Ricardo Moratelli. First evidence of frugivory in Myotis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae, Myotinae).Biodiversity Data Journal, 2015; 3: e6841 DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e6841

COMMENTS

BLOGGER
Name

Articles,51,Audio,23,Backyard,24,Barbed Wire,35,Bat Art,56,Bat Books,94,Bat Box,27,Bat Clothing,16,Bat Issues,642,Bat Stamps,1,Bats,4,Bats for Children,39,Bats for the Home,70,Electrocution,9,Events,39,info on bats,643,Jackie Sparrow,26,Microbats,469,Misc,121,Netting,40,Newsletter,5,Promoting,152,Rehab,92,Rehab 2011,7,Rehab 2012,25,Rehab 2013,15,Rehab 2014,6,Rehab 2015,108,Rehab 2016,136,Rehab 2017,73,Rehab 2018,29,Rehab 2019,2,Release Cage,2,RESCUE,74,Rescue 2011,1,Rescue 2012,7,RESCUE 2013,18,RESCUE 2014,8,RESCUE 2015,25,Rescue 2016,20,RESCUE 2017,16,Rescue 2018,10,Rescue 2019,6,Rob Mies,11,Shooting,2,Vegetation,27,Video,399,Virus,128,WebSites-Bat,45,
ltr
item
BatsRule!: Black mouse-eared bat goes green
Black mouse-eared bat goes green
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bSBEMiiSl-g/VvYrRtR2haI/AAAAAAACQ20/udO-1Il3o6ghvZyTHwd_7QwFCOfnU8S8Q/s1600/Black%2Bmouse-eared%2Bbat%2Bgoes%2Bgreen.jpg
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bSBEMiiSl-g/VvYrRtR2haI/AAAAAAACQ20/udO-1Il3o6ghvZyTHwd_7QwFCOfnU8S8Q/s72-c/Black%2Bmouse-eared%2Bbat%2Bgoes%2Bgreen.jpg
BatsRule!
http://batsrule-helpsavewildlife.blogspot.com/2016/03/black-mouse-eared-bat-goes-green.html
http://batsrule-helpsavewildlife.blogspot.com/
http://batsrule-helpsavewildlife.blogspot.com/
http://batsrule-helpsavewildlife.blogspot.com/2016/03/black-mouse-eared-bat-goes-green.html
true
4238281482117672351
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Readmore Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share to a social network STEP 2: Click the link on your social network Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy