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Weber N, Nagy M, Markotter W, Schaer J, Puechmaille SJ, Sutton J, Dávalos LM, Dusabe MC, Ejotre I, Fenton MB, Knörnschild M, López-Baucells A, Medellin RA, Metz M, Mubareka S, Nsengimana O, O'Mara MT, Racey PA, Tuttle M, Twizeyimana I, Vicente-Santos A, Tschapka M, Voigt CC, Wikelski M, Dechmann DK, Reeder DM. Robust evidence for bats as reservoir hosts is lacking in most African virus studies: a review and call to optimize sampling and conserve bats. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20230358. [PMID: 37964576 PMCID: PMC10646460 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Africa experiences frequent emerging disease outbreaks among humans, with bats often proposed as zoonotic pathogen hosts. We comprehensively reviewed virus-bat findings from papers published between 1978 and 2020 to evaluate the evidence that African bats are reservoir and/or bridging hosts for viruses that cause human disease. We present data from 162 papers (of 1322) with original findings on (1) numbers and species of bats sampled across bat families and the continent, (2) how bats were selected for study inclusion, (3) if bats were terminally sampled, (4) what types of ecological data, if any, were recorded and (5) which viruses were detected and with what methodology. We propose a scheme for evaluating presumed virus-host relationships by evidence type and quality, using the contrasting available evidence for Orthoebolavirus versus Orthomarburgvirus as an example. We review the wording in abstracts and discussions of all 162 papers, identifying key framing terms, how these refer to findings, and how they might contribute to people's beliefs about bats. We discuss the impact of scientific research communication on public perception and emphasize the need for strategies that minimize human-bat conflict and support bat conservation. Finally, we make recommendations for best practices that will improve virological study metadata.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Weber
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- University of Ulm, Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm, Germany
| | - Martina Nagy
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
| | - Wanda Markotter
- Centre for Viral Zoonoses, Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Juliane Schaer
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sébastien J. Puechmaille
- ISEM, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
- Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | | | - Liliana M. Dávalos
- Department of Ecology and Evolution and Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, USA
| | | | - Imran Ejotre
- Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
- Muni University, Arua, Uganda
| | - M. Brock Fenton
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
- Evolutionary Ethology, Institute for Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | | | - Rodrigo A. Medellin
- Institute of Ecology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | - Samira Mubareka
- Sunnybrook Research Institute and Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - M. Teague O'Mara
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
- Bat Conservation International Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, USA
| | - Paul A. Racey
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Merlin Tuttle
- Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation, Austin, TX USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, USA
| | | | - Amanda Vicente-Santos
- Graduate Program in Population Biology, Ecology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Marco Tschapka
- University of Ulm, Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | | | - Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Dina K.N. Dechmann
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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2
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Rose A, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M. Social information facilitates learning about novel food sources in adult flower-visiting bats. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:1635-1642. [PMID: 37421496 PMCID: PMC10442281 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01807-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
Incorporating novel food sources into their diet is crucial for animals in changing environments. Although the utilization of novel food sources can be learned individually, learning socially from experienced conspecifics may facilitate this task and enable a transmission of foraging-related innovations across a population. In anthropogenically modified habitats, bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) frequently adapt their feeding strategy to novel food sources, and corresponding social learning processes have been experimentally demonstrated in frugivorous and animalivorous species. However, comparable experiments are lacking for nectarivorous flower-visiting bats, even though their utilization of novel food sources in anthropogenically altered habitats is often observed and even discussed as the reason why bats are able to live in some areas. In the present study, we investigated whether adult flower-visiting bats may benefit from social information when learning about a novel food source. We conducted a demonstrator-observer dyad with wild Pallas' long-tongued bats (Glossophaga soricina; Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae) and hypothesized that naïve individuals would learn to exploit a novel food source faster when accompanied by an experienced demonstrator bat. Our results support this hypothesis and demonstrate flower-visiting bats to be capable of using social information to expand their dietary repertoire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Rose
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama, Republic of Panama
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama, Republic of Panama
- Museum für Naturkunde-Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Biology, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 42, 10115, Berlin, Germany
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3
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Ewert SP, Knörnschild M, Jung K, Frommolt KH. Structurally rich dry grasslands – Potential stepping stones for bats in open farmland. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.995133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Agricultural intensification has caused decrease and fragmentation of European semi-natural dry grasslands. While a high biodiversity value of dry grasslands is acknowledged for plants and insects, locally and on landscape level, their relevance for mobile species, such as bats, is unknown. Here we investigate the use of dry grassland fragments by bats in an agriculturally intensified region in Germany and evaluate local and landscape factors influencing bat activity and assemblages. Specifically, we predicted that a combination of local dry grassland structural richness and landscape features as well as their interactions affect bat activity and foraging above dry grasslands. We also expected that these features influence compositions of local bat assemblages. We repeatedly sampled at 12 dry grassland plots with acoustic monitoring and assessed activity and foraging of bat species/sonotypes, which we grouped into guilds known for foraging in open land, at vegetation edges and in narrow spaces. We determined structural richness of the dry grassland plots in field and derived landscape features from digital landscape data. A relatively high proportion of bat species/sonotypes used dry grasslands regularly. The edge space foragers responded positively to higher local structural richness. Their dry grassland use increased when surrounding forests and woody features were less available, but they foraged more on dry grasslands closer to water bodies. Narrow space bat activity on dry grasslands decreased with less landscape connectivity. Open and narrow space foragers responded to local structural richness only in landscape context. For all bat guilds we found increased use of structurally richer dry grasslands when there was more open farmland in the surroundings. This was also the case for edge space foragers, when landscapes were more homogeneous. Lastly, with increasing structural richness, bat assemblages were more dominated by edge space foragers. We show the importance of European dry grassland fragments for the highly mobile group of bats under certain local structural and landscape compositional conditions. Our results underline the value of heterogeneous dry grassland fragments as potential stepping stones in intensively used farmland areas and contribute to evidence based decision making in dry grassland management and bat conservation.
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Bergmann A, Gloza-Rausch F, Wimmer B, Kugelschafter K, Knörnschild M. Similarities in social calls during autumn swarming may facilitate interspecific communication between Myotis bat species. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.950951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Bats employ a variety of social calls for communication purposes. However, for most species, social calls are far less studied than echolocation calls and their specific function often remains unclear. We investigated the function of in-flight social calls during autumn swarming in front of a large hibernaculum in Northern Germany, whose main inhabitants are two species of Myotis bats, Natterer’s bats (Myotis nattereri) and Daubenton’s bats (Myotis daubentonii). We recorded social calls in nights of high swarming activity and grouped the calls based on their spectro-temporal structure into ten types and verified our visual classification by a discriminant function analysis. Whenever possible, we subsequently assigned social calls to either M. daubentonii or M. nattereri by analyzing the echolocation calls surrounding them. As many bats echolocate at the same time during swarming, we did not analyze single echolocation calls but the “soundscape” surrounding each social call instead, encompassing not only spectral parameters but also the timbre (vocal “color”) of echolocation calls. Both species employ comparatively similar social call types in a swarming context, even though there are subtle differences in call parameters between species. To additionally gain information about the general function of social calls produced in a swarming context, we performed playback experiments with free-flying bats in the vicinity of the roost, using three different call types from both species, respectively. In three out of six treatments, bat activity (approximated as echolocation call rate) increased during and after stimulus presentation, indicating that bats inspected or approached the playback site. Using a camera trap, we were sometimes able to identify the species of approaching bats. Based on the photos taken during playbacks, we assume one call type to support interspecific communication while another call type works for intraspecific group cohesion.
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Bergmann A, Burchardt LS, Wimmer B, Kugelschafter K, Gloza‐Rausch F, Knörnschild M. The soundscape of swarming: Proof of concept for a noninvasive acoustic species identification of swarming
Myotis
bats. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9439. [DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Anja Bergmann
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Lara S. Burchardt
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Bernadette Wimmer
- Naturschutz, Landwirtschaft, Gartenbau, Schifffahrt und Wasserwirtschaft Landratsamt Garmisch‐Patenkirchen Garmisch‐Patenkirchen Germany
| | | | - Florian Gloza‐Rausch
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Noctalis Fledermaus‐Zentrum GmbH Bad Segeberg Germany
- Deutsche Fledermauswarte e.V Berlin Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
- Deutsche Fledermauswarte e.V Berlin Germany
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6
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Simon R, Bakunowski K, Reyes-Vasques AE, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M, Steckel J, Stowell D. Acoustic traits of bat-pollinated flowers compared to flowers of other pollination syndromes and their echo-based classification using convolutional neural networks. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009706. [PMID: 34914700 PMCID: PMC8718002 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 12/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Bat-pollinated flowers have to attract their pollinators in absence of light and therefore some species developed specialized echoic floral parts. These parts are usually concave shaped and act like acoustic retroreflectors making the flowers acoustically conspicuous to the bats. Acoustic plant specializations only have been described for two bat-pollinated species in the Neotropics and one other bat-dependent plant in South East Asia. However, it remains unclear whether other bat-pollinated plant species also show acoustic adaptations. Moreover, acoustic traits have never been compared between bat-pollinated flowers and flowers belonging to other pollination syndromes. To investigate acoustic traits of bat-pollinated flowers we recorded a dataset of 32320 flower echoes, collected from 168 individual flowers belonging to 12 different species. 6 of these species were pollinated by bats and 6 species were pollinated by insects or hummingbirds. We analyzed the spectral target strength of the flowers and trained a convolutional neural network (CNN) on the spectrograms of the flower echoes. We found that bat-pollinated flowers have a significantly higher echo target strength, independent of their size, and differ in their morphology, specifically in the lower variance of their morphological features. We found that a good classification accuracy by our CNN (up to 84%) can be achieved with only one echo/spectrogram to classify the 12 different plant species, both bat-pollinated and otherwise, with bat-pollinated flowers being easier to classify. The higher classification performance of bat-pollinated flowers can be explained by the lower variance of their morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralph Simon
- CoSys-Lab, Antwerp University, Antwerp, Belgium
- Nuremberg Zoo, Nuremberg, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Karol Bakunowski
- Machine Listening Lab, Centre for Digital Music (C4DM), Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jan Steckel
- CoSys-Lab, Antwerp University, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Dan Stowell
- Machine Listening Lab, Centre for Digital Music (C4DM), Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
- Tilburg University/Naturalis Biodiversity Center, The Netherlands
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7
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Burchardt LS, Briefer EF, Knörnschild M. Novel ideas to further expand the applicability of rhythm analysis. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:18229-18237. [PMID: 35003669 PMCID: PMC8717299 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Revised: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The temporal structure of animals' acoustic signals can inform about context, urgency, species, individual identity, or geographical origin. We present three independent ideas to further expand the applicability of rhythm analysis for isochronous, that is, metronome-like, rhythms. A description of a rhythm or beat needs to include a description of its goodness of fit, meaning how well the rhythm describes a sequence. Existing goodness-of-fit values are not comparable between methods and datasets. Furthermore, they are strongly correlated with certain parameters of the described sequence, for example, the number of elements in the sequence. We introduce a new universal goodness-of-fit value, ugof, comparable across methods and datasets, which illustrates how well a certain beat frequency in Hz describes the temporal structure of a sequence of elements. We then describe two additional approaches to adapt already existing methods to analyze the rhythm of acoustic sequences of animals. The new additions, a slightly modified way to use the already established Fourier analysis and concrete examples on how to use the visualization with recurrence plots, enable the analysis of more variable data, while giving more details than previously proposed measures. New methods are tested on 6 datasets including the very complex flight songs of male skylarks. The ugof is the first goodness-of-fit value capable of giving the information per element, instead of only per sequence. Advantages and possible interpretations of the new approaches are discussed. The new methods enable the analysis of more variable and complex communication signals. They give indications on which levels and structures to analyze and enable to track changes and differences in individuals or populations, for instance, during ontogeny or across regions. Especially, the ugof is not restricted to the analysis of acoustic signals but could for example also be applied on heartbeat measurements. Taken together, the ugof and proposed method additions greatly broaden the scope of rhythm analysis methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara S. Burchardt
- Museum für Naturkunde ‐ Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity ScienceBerlinGermany
- Institute of Animal BehaviorFreie Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Elodie F. Briefer
- Behavioural Ecology GroupSection for Ecology & EvolutionDepartment of BiologyUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagen ØDenmark
- Université Paris‐SaclayUniversité Paris‐SudCNRSUMR 9197Institut des Neurosciences Paris‐SaclayOrsayFrance
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde ‐ Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity ScienceBerlinGermany
- Institute of Animal BehaviorFreie Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research InstituteBalboa AnconPanama
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8
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Abstract
Vocal production learning, the ability to modify the structure of vocalizations as a result of hearing those of others, has been studied extensively in birds but less attention has been given to its occurrence in mammals. We summarize the available evidence for vocal learning in mammals from the last 25 years, updating earlier reviews on the subject. The clearest evidence comes from cetaceans, pinnipeds, elephants and bats where species have been found to copy artificial or human language sounds, or match acoustic models of different sound types. Vocal convergence, in which parameter adjustments within one sound type result in similarities between individuals, occurs in a wider range of mammalian orders with additional evidence from primates, mole-rats, goats and mice. Currently, the underlying mechanisms for convergence are unclear with vocal production learning but also usage learning or matching physiological states being possible explanations. For experimental studies, we highlight the importance of quantitative comparisons of seemingly learned sounds with vocal repertoires before learning started or with species repertoires to confirm novelty. Further studies on the mammalian orders presented here as well as others are needed to explore learning skills and limitations in greater detail. This article is part of the theme issue 'Vocal learning in animals and humans'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent M Janik
- Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.,Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
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9
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Ter Haar SM, Fernandez AA, Gratier M, Knörnschild M, Levelt C, Moore RK, Vellema M, Wang X, Oller DK. Cross-species parallels in babbling: animals and algorithms. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200239. [PMID: 34482727 PMCID: PMC8419573 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
A key feature of vocal ontogeny in a variety of taxa with extensive vocal repertoires is a developmental pattern in which vocal exploration is followed by a period of category formation that results in a mature species-specific repertoire. Vocal development preceding the adult repertoire is often called ‘babbling’, a term used to describe aspects of vocal development in species of vocal-learning birds, some marine mammals, some New World monkeys, some bats and humans. The paper summarizes the results of research on babbling in examples from five taxa and proposes a unifying definition facilitating their comparison. There are notable similarities across these species in the developmental pattern of vocalizations, suggesting that vocal production learning might require babbling. However, the current state of the literature is insufficient to confirm this suggestion. We suggest directions for future research to elucidate this issue, emphasizing the importance of (i) expanding the descriptive data and seeking species with complex mature repertoires where babbling may not occur or may occur only to a minimal extent; (ii) (quasi-)experimental research to tease apart possible mechanisms of acquisition and/or self-organizing development; and (iii) computational modelling as a methodology to test hypotheses about the origins and functions of babbling. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Vocal learning in animals and humans’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sita M Ter Haar
- Cognitive Neurobiology and Helmholtz Institute, Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, PO Box 80086, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Ahana A Fernandez
- Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Maya Gratier
- Laboratoire Ethologie, Cognition, Développement, Paris Nanterre University, Nanterre, France
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.,Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | - Claartje Levelt
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Roger K Moore
- Department Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Michiel Vellema
- Cognitive Neurobiology and Helmholtz Institute, Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, PO Box 80086, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Xiaoqin Wang
- Laboratory of Auditory Neurophysiology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - D Kimbrough Oller
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA.,Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA.,Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
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10
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Fernandez AA, Burchardt LS, Nagy M, Knörnschild M. Babbling in a vocal learning bat resembles human infant babbling. Science 2021; 373:923-926. [PMID: 34413237 DOI: 10.1126/science.abf9279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Babbling is a production milestone in infant speech development. Evidence for babbling in nonhuman mammals is scarce, which has prevented cross-species comparisons. In this study, we investigated the conspicuous babbling behavior of Saccopteryx bilineata, a bat capable of vocal production learning. We analyzed the babbling of 20 bat pups in the field during their 3-month ontogeny and compared its features to those that characterize babbling in human infants. Our findings demonstrate that babbling in bat pups is characterized by the same eight features as babbling in human infants, including the conspicuous features reduplication and rhythmicity. These parallels in vocal ontogeny between two mammalian species offer future possibilities for comparison of cognitive and neuromolecular mechanisms and adaptive functions of babbling in bats and humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahana A Fernandez
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, Institute of Biology, Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustrasse 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Lara S Burchardt
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, Institute of Biology, Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustrasse 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Martina Nagy
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, Institute of Biology, Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustrasse 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Luis Clement Avenue, Bldg. 401 Tupper, Balboa Ancon, Republic of Panama
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11
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Fernandez AA, Schmidt C, Schmidt S, Rodríguez-Herrera B, Knörnschild M. Social behaviour and vocalizations of the tent-roosting Honduran white bat. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0248452. [PMID: 34379619 PMCID: PMC8357122 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Bats are highly gregarious animals, displaying a large spectrum of social systems with different organizational structures. One important factor shaping sociality is group stability. To maintain group cohesion and stability, bats often rely on vocal communication. The Honduran white bat, Ectophylla alba, exhibits an unusual social structure compared to other tent-roosting species. This small white-furred bat lives in perennial stable mixed-sex groups. Tent construction requires several individuals and, as the only tent roosting species so far, involves both sexes. The bats´ social system and ecology render this species an interesting candidate to study social behaviour and vocal communication. In our study, we investigated the social behaviour and vocalizations of E. alba in the tent by observing two stable groups, including pups, in the wild. We documented 16 different behaviours, among others play and fur chewing, a behaviour presumably used for scent-marking. Moreover, we found 10 distinct social call types in addition to echolocation calls, and for seven call types we were able to identify the corresponding broad behavioural context. Most of the social call types were affiliative, including two types of contact calls, maternal directive calls, pup isolation calls and a call type related to the fur-chewing behaviour. In sum, this study entails an ethogram and describes the social vocalizations of a tent-roosting phyllostomid bat, providing the basis for further in-depth studies about the sociality and vocal communication in E. alba.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahana Aurora Fernandez
- Museum für Naturkunde—Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail: (AAF); (MK)
| | | | - Stefanie Schmidt
- Institute of Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Bernal Rodríguez-Herrera
- Escuela de Biología, Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Ecología Tropical, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde—Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
- Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail: (AAF); (MK)
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12
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Wilkinson GS, Adams DM, Haghani A, Lu AT, Zoller J, Breeze CE, Arnold BD, Ball HC, Carter GG, Cooper LN, Dechmann DKN, Devanna P, Fasel NJ, Galazyuk AV, Günther L, Hurme E, Jones G, Knörnschild M, Lattenkamp EZ, Li CZ, Mayer F, Reinhardt JA, Medellin RA, Nagy M, Pope B, Power ML, Ransome RD, Teeling EC, Vernes SC, Zamora-Mejías D, Zhang J, Faure PA, Greville LJ, Horvath S, Herrera M LG, Flores-Martínez JJ. Author Correction: DNA methylation predicts age and provides insight into exceptional longevity of bats. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2652. [PMID: 33953189 PMCID: PMC8100179 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23129-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Danielle M Adams
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Amin Haghani
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ake T Lu
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Joseph Zoller
- Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Bryan D Arnold
- Department of Biology, Illinois College, Jacksonville, IL, USA
| | - Hope C Ball
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA
| | - Gerald G Carter
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Lisa Noelle Cooper
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA
| | - Dina K N Dechmann
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, FL, USA
| | - Paolo Devanna
- Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Nicolas J Fasel
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alexander V Galazyuk
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA
| | - Linus Günther
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
| | - Edward Hurme
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Gareth Jones
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, FL, USA.,Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ella Z Lattenkamp
- Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Department Biology II, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, München, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Caesar Z Li
- Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Frieder Mayer
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Rodrigo A Medellin
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Martina Nagy
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
| | - Brian Pope
- Lubee Bat Conservancy, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Megan L Power
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Roger D Ransome
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Emma C Teeling
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Sonja C Vernes
- Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,School of Biology, The University of St Andrews, Fife, UK
| | - Daniel Zamora-Mejías
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Joshua Zhang
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Paul A Faure
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Lucas J Greville
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Steve Horvath
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. .,Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - L Gerardo Herrera M
- Estación de Biología de Chamela, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 48980, San Patricio, Mexico
| | - José J Flores-Martínez
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
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13
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Lattenkamp EZ, Nagy M, Drexl M, Vernes SC, Wiegrebe L, Knörnschild M. Hearing sensitivity and amplitude coding in bats are differentially shaped by echolocation calls and social calls. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202600. [PMID: 33402076 PMCID: PMC7892409 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Differences in auditory perception between species are influenced by phylogenetic origin and the perceptual challenges imposed by the natural environment, such as detecting prey- or predator-generated sounds and communication signals. Bats are well suited for comparative studies on auditory perception since they predominantly rely on echolocation to perceive the world, while their social calls and most environmental sounds have low frequencies. We tested if hearing sensitivity and stimulus level coding in bats differ between high and low-frequency ranges by measuring auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) of 86 bats belonging to 11 species. In most species, auditory sensitivity was equally good at both high- and low-frequency ranges, while amplitude was more finely coded for higher frequency ranges. Additionally, we conducted a phylogenetic comparative analysis by combining our ABR data with published data on 27 species. Species-specific peaks in hearing sensitivity correlated with peak frequencies of echolocation calls and pup isolation calls, suggesting that changes in hearing sensitivity evolved in response to frequency changes of echolocation and social calls. Overall, our study provides the most comprehensive comparative assessment of bat hearing capacities to date and highlights the evolutionary pressures acting on their sensory perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ella Z Lattenkamp
- Department Biology II, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Martinsried, Germany.,Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Martina Nagy
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
| | - Markus Drexl
- German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders (IFB), Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
| | - Sonja C Vernes
- Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Lutz Wiegrebe
- Department Biology II, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.,Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
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14
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Knörnschild M, Fernandez AA. Do Bats Have the Necessary Prerequisites for Symbolic Communication? Front Psychol 2020; 11:571678. [PMID: 33262725 PMCID: PMC7688458 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.571678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Training animals such as apes, gray parrots, or dolphins that communicate via arbitrary symbols with humans has revealed astonishing mental capacities that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Albeit bats have not yet been trained to communicate via symbols with humans, we are convinced that some species, especially captive Pteropodid bats ("flying foxes"), show the potential to master this cognitive task. Here, we briefly review what is known about bats' cognitive skills that constitute relevant prerequisites for symbolic communication with humans. We focus on social learning in general, trainability by humans, associative learning from humans, imitation, vocal production learning and usage learning, and social knowledge. Moreover, we highlight potential training paradigms that could be used to elicit simple "symbolic" bat-human communication, i.e., training bats to select arbitrary symbols on a touchscreen to elicit a desired behavior of the human caregiver. Touchscreen-proficient bats could participate in cognition research, e.g., to study their numerical competence or categorical perception, to further elucidate how nonhuman animals learn and perceive the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
- Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancón, Panama
| | - Ahana A. Fernandez
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
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15
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16
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Rose A, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M. Visits at artificial RFID flowers demonstrate that juvenile flower-visiting bats perform foraging flights apart from their mothers. Mamm Biol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-020-00048-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
AbstractDuring the transition from parental care to independent life, the development of adequate foraging skills is a major challenge for many juvenile mammals. However, participating in their parents’ knowledge by applying social learning strategies might facilitate this task. For several mammals, communal foraging of adults and offspring is suggested to be an important mechanism in mediating foraging-related information. For the large mammalian taxon of bats, only little is known about foraging-related social learning processes during ontogeny. It is often suggested that following their mothers during foraging flights would represent a valuable option for juveniles to socially learn about foraging, e.g., where to find resource-rich foraging patches, but explicit tests are scarce. In the present study, we investigated the foraging behavior of juvenile flower-visiting bats (Glossophaga soricina) in a dry forest in Costa Rica. We tested whether recently volant, but still nursed pups perform foraging flights alone, or whether pups follow their mothers, which would enable pups to socially learn where to feed. For that, we trained mothers and pups to feed from artificial flowers with a RFID reading system and, subsequently, conducted a field experiment to test whether RFID-tagged mothers and pups visit these flowers communally or independently. Unexpectedly, pups often encountered and visited artificial flowers near the day roost, while mothers rarely did, suggesting that they foraged somewhere further away. Our results demonstrate that still nursed juveniles perform foraging flights apart from their mothers and might learn about the spatial distribution of food without participating in their mother’s knowledge, for instance, by following other conspecifics or applying individual learning strategies. An initial potential lack of foraging success in this period is likely compensated by the ongoing maternal provisioning with breast milk and regurgitated nectar during daytime. Our results contribute to the growing body of research on the ontogeny of mammalian foraging behavior in general.
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17
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Abstract
Analyzing the rhythm of animals' acoustic signals is of interest to a growing number of researchers: evolutionary biologists want to disentangle how these structures evolved and what patterns can be found, and ecologists and conservation biologists aim to discriminate cryptic species on the basis of parameters of acoustic signals such as temporal structures. Temporal structures are also relevant for research on vocal production learning, a part of which is for the animal to learn a temporal structure. These structures, in other words, these rhythms, are the topic of this paper. How can they be investigated in a meaningful, comparable and universal way? Several approaches exist. Here we used five methods to compare their suitability and interpretability for different questions and datasets and test how they support the reproducibility of results and bypass biases. Three very different datasets with regards to recording situation, length and context were analyzed: two social vocalizations of Neotropical bats (multisyllabic, medium long isolation calls of Saccopteryx bilineata, and monosyllabic, very short isolation calls of Carollia perspicillata) and click trains of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus. Techniques to be compared included Fourier analysis with a newly developed goodness-of-fit value, a generate-and-test approach where data was overlaid with varying artificial beats, and the analysis of inter-onset-intervals and calculations of a normalized Pairwise Variability Index (nPVI). We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the methods and we also show suggestions on how to best visualize rhythm analysis results. Furthermore, we developed a decision tree that will enable researchers to select a suitable and comparable method on the basis of their data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara S. Burchardt
- Museum für Naturkunde, Invalidenstraße, Berlin, Germany
- Animal Behavior Lab, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde, Invalidenstraße, Berlin, Germany
- Animal Behavior Lab, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Barro Colorado Island, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá
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18
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Affiliation(s)
- David Hörmann
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancón, Panamá
| | - Andreas Rose
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancón, Panamá
- Department of Microevolution, Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
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19
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Gottlieb N, Ohm V, Knörnschild M. A first assessment of the electronic health insurance card for asylum seekers in Berlin. Eur J Public Health 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckz187.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Healthcare provision for asylum seekers differs across Germany. Most states use treatment vouchers as proof of eligibility; i.e., asylum seekers must first obtain a voucher from the welfare office to access healthcare. Since 2016 several states have introduced an electronic health insurance card (EHIC) for asylum seekers that enables access to care akin to statutory insurance. The EHIC has reanimated an old debate about asylum seekers’ health benefits. Opponents claim that medical costs will rise if control over healthcare access is eased. Proponents argue that the EHIC reduces costs through the cutback of administrative workloads and improves access to care. Evidence for either position is scarce.
Goal
The study goal was to assess the 2016 EHIC introduction in Berlin to enable evidence-informed decision-making.
Methods
We analyzed claims data that were retrieved from the Berlin Senate Administration and ten semi-structured in-depth interviews with key informants. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis using ATLAS.ti software. Ethical clearance was obtained.
Results
Our study found an overall positive evaluation of the EHIC. Although the introduction implied extra efforts and total administrative workloads remained unaltered, the EHIC was said to have the following advantages as compared to treatment vouchers: 1) It simplifies certain work processes and 2) allows for unprecedented financial transparency and control. 3) It eases access to care with 4) no increase in medical costs. Finally 5) the EHIC signifies equality and integration for asylum seekers.
Conclusions
In light of our study results the common economic arguments against greater inclusion of asylum seekers into public healthcare systems appear unfounded. On the contrary, the example of the EHIC shows that inclusion can create win-win-situations by improving healthcare access, whilst keeping medical costs constant and advancing financial transparency.
Key messages
In Germany there is a long-standing debate whether easing access to care for asylum seekers will increase health costs. Our case study shows that, on the contrary, the introduction of an electronic health insurance card for asylum seekers can both improve access and have organizational and economic benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Gottlieb
- Health Care Management, Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - V Ohm
- Berlin School of Public Health, Berlin, Germany
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20
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Wirthlin M, Chang EF, Knörnschild M, Krubitzer LA, Mello CV, Miller CT, Pfenning AR, Vernes SC, Tchernichovski O, Yartsev MM. A Modular Approach to Vocal Learning: Disentangling the Diversity of a Complex Behavioral Trait. Neuron 2019; 104:87-99. [PMID: 31600518 PMCID: PMC10066796 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.09.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 09/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Vocal learning is a behavioral trait in which the social and acoustic environment shapes the vocal repertoire of individuals. Over the past century, the study of vocal learning has progressed at the intersection of ecology, physiology, neuroscience, molecular biology, genomics, and evolution. Yet, despite the complexity of this trait, vocal learning is frequently described as a binary trait, with species being classified as either vocal learners or vocal non-learners. As a result, studies have largely focused on a handful of species for which strong evidence for vocal learning exists. Recent studies, however, suggest a continuum in vocal learning capacity across taxa. Here, we further suggest that vocal learning is a multi-component behavioral phenotype comprised of distinct yet interconnected modules. Discretizing the vocal learning phenotype into its constituent modules would facilitate integration of findings across a wider diversity of species, taking advantage of the ways in which each excels in a particular module, or in a specific combination of features. Such comparative studies can improve understanding of the mechanisms and evolutionary origins of vocal learning. We propose an initial set of vocal learning modules supported by behavioral and neurobiological data and highlight the need for diversifying the field in order to disentangle the complexity of the vocal learning phenotype.
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21
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Knörnschild M, Fernandez AA, Nagy M. Vocal information and the navigation of social decisions in bats: Is social complexity linked to vocal complexity? Funct Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde ‐ Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa Ancón Panama
- Animal Behavior Laboratory Free University Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Ahana Aurora Fernandez
- Museum für Naturkunde ‐ Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Animal Behavior Laboratory Free University Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Martina Nagy
- Museum für Naturkunde ‐ Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
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22
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Rose A, Wöhl S, Bechler J, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M. Maternal mouth-to-mouth feeding behaviour in flower-visiting bats, but no experimental evidence for transmitted dietary preferences. Behav Processes 2019; 165:29-35. [PMID: 31170462 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Revised: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 06/01/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
In addition to breast milk, several mammals feed their offspring with primary food items. This provisioning can offer both energetic and informational benefits: young might use parentally provided food as a source of nutrients, but also as a valuable option to socially learn about adults' food. For bats, there are only very few and partially anecdotal reports of adults feeding their pups with primary food, and there is also a lack of information about social learning processes during ontogeny. In the present study, we provide experimental evidence that lactating flower-visiting bats (Glossophaga soricina) provide regurgitated nectar via mouth-to-mouth feeding behaviour to their pups. After licking at their mothers' slightly opened mouth, pups defecated a marker substance that was exclusively available in the mothers' nectar diet. We additionally investigated associated informational benefits by testing for a social transmission of dietary preferences. We experimentally induced a dietary preference for specifically flavoured nectars to mothers with non-volant pups. Subsequently, after pups became volant, we tested their dietary preferences in a choice experiment. However, we found no experimental evidence that pups adopted the preferences of their mothers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Rose
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Saskia Wöhl
- Institute of Zoology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Staudtstr. 5, 91058, Erlangen, Germany; Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum Westerwald-Osteifel, Fachzentrum für Bienen und Imkerei, Im Bannen 38, 56727, Mayen, Germany
| | - Jan Bechler
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069, Ulm, Germany
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069, Ulm, Germany; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama; Animal Behavior Lab, Free University Berlin, Takustrasse 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany; Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany
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23
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Burchardt LS, Norton P, Behr O, Scharff C, Knörnschild M. General isochronous rhythm in echolocation calls and social vocalizations of the bat Saccopteryx bilineata. R Soc Open Sci 2019; 6:181076. [PMID: 30800360 PMCID: PMC6366212 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/29/2018] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Rhythm is an essential component of human speech and music but very little is known about its evolutionary origin and its distribution in animal vocalizations. We found a regular rhythm in three multisyllabic vocalization types (echolocation call sequences, male territorial songs and pup isolation calls) of the neotropical bat Saccopteryx bilineata. The intervals between element onsets were used to fit the rhythm for each individual. For echolocation call sequences, we expected rhythm frequencies around 6-24 Hz, corresponding to the wingbeat in S. bilineata which is strongly coupled to echolocation calls during flight. Surprisingly, we found rhythm frequencies between 6 and 24 Hz not only for echolocation sequences but also for social vocalizations, e.g. male territorial songs and pup isolation calls, which were emitted while bats were stationary. Fourier analysis of element onsets confirmed an isochronous rhythm across individuals and vocalization types. We speculate that attentional tuning to the rhythms of echolocation calls on the receivers' side might make the production of equally steady rhythmic social vocalizations beneficial.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara S. Burchardt
- Institute of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Author for correspondence: Lara S. Burchardt e-mail:
| | - Philipp Norton
- Institute of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Oliver Behr
- University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Paul-Gordan-Str. 3/5, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Constance Scharff
- Institute of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Barro Colorado Island, Roosevelt Avenue, Tupper Building – 401, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá
- Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
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24
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Wilde LR, Günther L, Mayer F, Knörnschild M, Nagy M. Thermoregulatory Requirements Shape Mating Opportunities of Male Proboscis Bats. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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25
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Günther L, Knörnschild M, Nagy M, Mayer F. The evolution of a rare mammalian trait - benefits and costs of male philopatry in proboscis bats. Sci Rep 2017; 7:15632. [PMID: 29142308 PMCID: PMC5688083 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15990-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Accepted: 10/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
While inbreeding avoidance is widely accepted as the major driver of female natal dispersal, the evolution of male philopatry is still poorly understood and discussed to be driven by male mating strategy, mate competition among male kin and kin cooperation. During a twelve-year study, we gathered detailed genetic and observational data of individually marked proboscis bats to assess the degree of male philopatry as well as its costs and benefits to improve the understanding of its evolution. Our results reveal several patrilines with simultaneous presence of closely related males and a small proportion of unrelated immigrant males in their colonies. Philopatric males benefit from avoiding the costs of immigration into foreign colonies through significantly longer tenure, better integration (i.e. frequent nocturnal presence in the colonies) and consequently significantly higher reproductive success compared to immigrant males. Finally, we illustrate that despite a high proportion of philopatric males in the groups, the number of closely related competing males is low. Thus, the hypothesised costs of mate competition among male kin seem to be low in promiscuous mammalian societies with unrelated females and a small degree of male immigration and are readily outweighed by the benefits of staying in the natal group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linus Günther
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Invalidenstrasse 43, D-10115, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Invalidenstrasse 43, D-10115, Berlin, Germany.,Free University Berlin, Institute of Biology, Animal Behavior Lab, Takustrasse 6, D-14195, Berlin, Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Roosevelt Avenida, Tupper Building 401, Balboa, Panama
| | - Martina Nagy
- Free University Berlin, Institute of Biology, Animal Behavior Lab, Takustrasse 6, D-14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Frieder Mayer
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Invalidenstrasse 43, D-10115, Berlin, Germany
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26
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Knörnschild M, Blüml S, Steidl P, Eckenweber M, Nagy M. Bat songs as acoustic beacons - male territorial songs attract dispersing females. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13918. [PMID: 29066803 PMCID: PMC5654967 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14434-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2017] [Accepted: 10/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Male song in birds and mammals is important for repelling rivals, stimulating mates or attracting them to a specific location. Nevertheless, direct experimental evidence for the mate attraction function of male song is limited to a few studies. Here, we provide strong experimental evidence that male songs attract wild female bats (Saccopteryx bilineata). Playbacks of territorial songs reliably elicited phonotaxis in females but not males. Most females captured during playbacks were subadults searching for new colonies to settle in. In S. bilineata, multiple males sing simultaneously at dawn and dusk, thereby creating a conspicuous chorus which encodes information on colony identity and size. Since territorial songs have a large signalling range, male songs constitute acoustic beacons which enable females to localize new colonies. In our playbacks, females strongly preferred local territorial songs over foreign territorial songs from two different locations, indicating that song familiarity influences phonotaxis. Our study provides the first clear experimental evidence that male song elicits female phonotaxis in a non-human mammal. Bats are an especially promising taxon for studying mammalian song since male song has been described in different species with diverse social organisations and natural histories, thus providing exciting opportunities for phylogenetically controlled comparative studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam Knörnschild
- Animal Behavior Lab, Free University Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Barro Colorado Island, Roosevelt Ave., Tupper Building - 401, Balboa, Ancón, Panama City, Panama.
- Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Simone Blüml
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany
| | - Patrick Steidl
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany
| | - Maria Eckenweber
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany
| | - Martina Nagy
- Animal Behavior Lab, Free University Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany
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Mumm CAS, Knörnschild M. Territorial choruses of giant otter groups (Pteronura brasiliensis) encode information on group identity. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0185733. [PMID: 29023545 PMCID: PMC5638252 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2017] [Accepted: 09/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Group living animals often engage in corporate territorial defence. Territorial group vocalizations can provide information about group identity, size and composition. Neighbouring groups may use this information to avoid unfavourable direct conflicts. Giant otters are highly social and territorial animals with an elaborate vocal repertoire. They produce long-range screams when they are alert or excited, i.e. in an alarm, isolation or begging context. Long-range screams are not only produced by one individual at a time ('single screams') but also by multiple group members simultaneously, resulting in a highly conspicuous 'group chorus'. Wild giant otters regularly produce group choruses during interactions with predators, when they detect intruders in their territory or before group reunions after separation. Since single screams and especially group choruses probably contribute to the groups' corporate territorial defence, we hypothesized that group identity is encoded in single screams and group choruses. We analysed vocalizations from five wild and three captive giant otter groups and found statistical evidence for a group signature in group choruses. Results for single screams were less conclusive, which might have been caused by the comparatively lower sample size. We suggest that giant otters may gain information on group identity by listening to group choruses. Group identity likely constitutes important social information for giant otters since territory boundaries of neighbouring groups can overlap and direct inter-group conflicts are severe. Therefore, group chorusing may contribute to the mutual avoidance of members from different groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina A. S. Mumm
- Animal Behavior Lab, Institute for Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Animal Behavior Lab, Institute for Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancón, Panamáa
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
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Rose A, Brändel SD, Cvecko P, Engler S, Hiller T, Knörnschild M, Tschapka M. New records of hypopigmentation in two neotropical phyllostomid bat species with different roosting habits (Uroderma bilobatum, Glossophaga soricina). MAMMALIA 2017. [DOI: 10.1515/mammalia-2016-0086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
AbstractHypopigmentation disorders were reported in several bat species roosting in dark and sheltered roosts, but comparable records from open foliage roosts are rare. Here, we present three observations of non-albinistic hypopigmentation in two neotropical bat species. One extensively hypopigmented individual of
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Abstract
Bat pups produce isolation calls to solicit maternal care. During maturation, pup isolation calls may gradually develop into echolocation calls or exist in parallel to them, depending on the species involved. We studied the ontogeny of isolation calls in nectivorous bats, Glossophaga soricina. Isolation calls of G. soricina pups were frequency modulated calls uttered in bouts of varying length. Newborn pups already produced both isolation calls and echolocation call precursors (which developed into ‘normal’ echolocation calls), indicating that isolation calls of G. soricina pups occur independently and exist in parallel to echolocation calls during ontogeny. We found strong statistical evidence for an individual signature encoded in isolation calls. Moreover, we provide evidence for considerable changes in isolation call parameters over a short ontogenetic time span. Throughout ontogeny, the call interval decreased significantly whereas most frequency parameters increased significantly and call entropy rose (i.e., isolation calls became less tonal but noisier).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sina Engler
- Cluster of Excellence “Hearing4all” and Research Centre Neurosensory Science, Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Strasse 9–11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Rose
- Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Animal Behavior Lab, Free University Berlin, Takustrasse 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama, Republic of Panama
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Günther L, Lopez MD, Knörnschild M, Reid K, Nagy M, Mayer F. From resource to female defence: the impact of roosting ecology on a bat's mating strategy. R Soc Open Sci 2016; 3:160503. [PMID: 28018637 PMCID: PMC5180135 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2016] [Accepted: 09/30/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
With their extraordinary species richness and diversity in ecological traits and social systems, bats are a promising taxon for testing socio-ecological hypotheses in order to get new insights into the evolution of animal social systems. Regarding its roosting habits, proboscis bats form an extreme by occupying sites which are usually completely exposed to daylight (e.g. tree trunks, vines or rocks). This is accompanied by morphological and behavioural adaptations to remain cryptic in exposed day roosts. With long-term behavioural observations and genetic parentage analyses of individually marked proboscis bats, we assessed its social dispersion and male mating strategy during day and night. Our results reveal nocturnal male territoriality-a strategy which most closely resembles a resource-defence polygyny that is frequent also in other tropical bats. Its contrasting clumped social dispersion during the day is likely to be the result of strong selection for crypsis in exposed roosts and is accompanied by direct female defence in addition to male territoriality. To the best of our knowledge, such contrasting male mating strategies within a single day-night cycle have not been described in a vertebrate species so far and illustrate a possible evolutionary trajectory from resource-defence to female-defence strategy by small ecologically driven evolutionary steps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linus Günther
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Marlena D. Lopez
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Werribee, Victoria, Australia
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Free University Berlin, Institute of Biology, Animal Behavior Lab, Takustrasse 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Roosevelt Avenida, Tupper Building 401, Balboa, Panama
| | - Kyle Reid
- University of Illinois, Department of Biological Science, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Martina Nagy
- Department of Sensor Technology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Paul-Gordan-Strasse 3/5, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Frieder Mayer
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
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Eckenweber M, Knörnschild M. Responsiveness to conspecific distress calls is influenced by day-roost proximity in bats (Saccopteryx bilineata). R Soc Open Sci 2016; 3:160151. [PMID: 27293797 PMCID: PMC4892459 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2016] [Accepted: 04/21/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Distress calls signal extreme physical distress, e.g. being caught by a predator. In many bat species, distress calls attract conspecifics. Because bats often occupy perennial day-roosts, they might adapt their responsiveness according to the social relevance in which distress calls are broadcast. Specifically, we hypothesized that conspecific distress calls broadcast within or in proximity to the day-roost would elicit a stronger responsiveness than distress calls broadcast at a foraging site. We analysed the distress calls and conducted playback experiments with the greater sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata, which occupies perennial day-roosts with a stable social group composition. S. bilineata reacted significantly differently depending on the playback's location. Bats were attracted to distress call playbacks within the day-roost and in proximity to it, but showed no obvious response to distress call playbacks at a foraging site. Hence, the bats adapted their responsiveness towards distress calls depending on the social relevance in which distress calls were broadcast. Distress calls within or in proximity to the day-roost are probably perceived as a greater threat and thus have a higher behavioural relevance than distress calls at foraging sites, either because bats want to assess the predation risk or because they engage in mobbing behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Eckenweber
- Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Animal Behaviour Lab, Institute for Biology, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
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Rose A, Kolar M, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M. Learning where to feed: the use of social information in flower-visiting Pallas' long-tongued bats (Glossophaga soricina). Anim Cogn 2015; 19:251-62. [PMID: 26497984 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-015-0930-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2015] [Revised: 10/07/2015] [Accepted: 10/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Social learning is a widespread phenomenon among vertebrates that influences various patterns of behaviour and is often reported with respect to foraging behaviour. The use of social information by foraging bats was documented in insectivorous, carnivorous and frugivorous species, but there are little data whether flower-visiting nectarivorous bats (Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae) can acquire information about food from other individuals. In this study, we conducted an experiment with a demonstrator-observer paradigm to investigate whether flower-visiting Pallas' long-tongued bats (Glossophaga soricina) are able to socially learn novel flower positions via observation of, or interaction with, knowledgeable conspecifics. The results demonstrate that flower-visiting G. soricina are able to use social information for the location of novel flower positions and can thereby reduce energy-costly search efforts. This social transmission is explainable as a result of local enhancement; learning bats might rely on both visual and echo-acoustical perception and are likely to eavesdrop on auditory cues that are emitted by feeding conspecifics. We additionally tested the spatial memory capacity of former demonstrator bats when retrieving a learned flower position, and the results indicate that flower-visiting bats remember a learned flower position after several weeks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Rose
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10/1, 89069, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Miriam Kolar
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10/1, 89069, Ulm, Germany
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10/1, 89069, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Roosevelt Avenida, Tupper Building 401, Balboa, Panama
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10/1, 89069, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Roosevelt Avenida, Tupper Building 401, Balboa, Panama
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Carter G, Schoeppler D, Manthey M, Knörnschild M, Denzinger A. Distress Calls of a Fast-Flying Bat (Molossus molossus) Provoke Inspection Flights but Not Cooperative Mobbing. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0136146. [PMID: 26353118 PMCID: PMC4564210 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2015] [Accepted: 07/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Many birds and mammals produce distress calls when captured. Bats often approach speakers playing conspecific distress calls, which has led to the hypothesis that bat distress calls promote cooperative mobbing. An alternative explanation is that approaching bats are selfishly assessing predation risk. Previous playback studies on bat distress calls involved species with highly maneuverable flight, capable of making close passes and tight circles around speakers, which can look like mobbing. We broadcast distress calls recorded from the velvety free-tailed bat, Molossus molossus, a fast-flying aerial-hawker with relatively poor maneuverability. Based on their flight behavior, we predicted that, in response to distress call playbacks, M. molossus would make individual passing inspection flights but would not approach in groups or approach within a meter of the distress call source. By recording responses via ultrasonic recording and infrared video, we found that M. molossus, and to a lesser extent Saccopteryx bilineata, made more flight passes during distress call playbacks compared to noise. However, only the more maneuverable S. bilineata made close approaches to the speaker, and we found no evidence of mobbing in groups. Instead, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that single bats approached distress calls simply to investigate the situation. These results suggest that approaches by bats to distress calls should not suffice as clear evidence for mobbing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerald Carter
- Biology Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Diana Schoeppler
- Animal Physiology, Institute for Neurobiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Marie Manthey
- Animal Physiology, Institute for Neurobiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | - Annette Denzinger
- Animal Physiology, Institute for Neurobiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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Tschapka M, Gonzalez-Terrazas TP, Knörnschild M. Nectar uptake in bats using a pumping-tongue mechanism. Sci Adv 2015; 1:e1500525. [PMID: 26601270 PMCID: PMC4643790 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2015] [Accepted: 06/29/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Many insects use nectar as their principal diet and have mouthparts specialized in nectarivory, whereas most nectar-feeding vertebrates are opportunistic users of floral resources and only a few species show distinct morphological specializations. Specialized nectar-feeding bats extract nectar from flowers using elongated tongues that correspond to two vastly different morphologies: Most species have tongues with hair-like papillae, whereas one group has almost hairless tongues that show distinct lateral grooves. Recent molecular data indicate a convergent evolution of groove- and hair-tongued bat clades into the nectar-feeding niche. Using high-speed video recordings on experimental feeders, we show distinctly divergent nectar-feeding behavior in clades. Grooved tongues are held in contact with nectar for the entire duration of visit as nectar is pumped into the mouths of hovering bats, whereas hairy tongues are used in conventional sinusoidal lapping movements. Bats with grooved tongues use a specific fluid uptake mechanism not known from any other mammal. Nectar rises in semiopen lateral grooves, probably driven by a combination of tongue deformation and capillary action. Extraction efficiency declined for both tongue types with a similar slope toward deeper nectar levels. Our results highlight a novel drinking mechanism in mammals and raise further questions on fluid mechanics and ecological niche partitioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm D-89069, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | | | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm D-89069, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
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Heim O, Treitler JT, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M, Jung K. The Importance of Landscape Elements for Bat Activity and Species Richness in Agricultural Areas. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0134443. [PMID: 26231029 PMCID: PMC4521758 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2015] [Accepted: 07/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Landscape heterogeneity is regarded as a key factor for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function in production landscapes. We investigated whether grassland sites at close vicinity to forested areas are more frequently used by bats. Considering that bats are important consumers of herbivorous insects, including agricultural pest, this is important for sustainable land management. Bat activity and species richness were assessed using repeated monitoring from May to September in 2010 with acoustic monitoring surveys on 50 grassland sites in the Biosphere Reserve Schorfheide-Chorin (North-East Germany). Using spatial analysis (GIS), we measured the closest distance of each grassland site to potentially connecting landscape elements (e.g., trees, linear vegetation, groves, running and standing water). In addition, we assessed the distance to and the percent land cover of forest remnants and urban areas in a 200 m buffer around the recording sites to address differences in the local landscape setting. Species richness and bat activity increased significantly with higher forest land cover in the 200 m buffer and at smaller distance to forested areas. Moreover, species richness increased in proximity to tree groves. Larger amount of forest land cover and smaller distance to forest also resulted in a higher activity of bats on grassland sites in the beginning of the year during May, June and July. Landscape elements near grassland sites also influenced species composition of bats and species richness of functional groups (open, edge and narrow space foragers). Our results highlight the importance of forested areas, and suggest that agricultural grasslands that are closer to forest remnants might be better buffered against outbreaks of agricultural pest insects due to higher species richness and higher bat activity. Furthermore, our data reveals that even for highly mobile species such as bats, a very dense network of connecting elements within the landscape is beneficial to promote activity in open areas and thus assure vital ecosystem function in agricultural landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Heim
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Julia T. Treitler
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | - Kirsten Jung
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- * E-mail:
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Fernandez AA, Fasel N, Knörnschild M, Richner H. When bats are boxing: aggressive behaviour and communication in male Seba's short-tailed fruit bat. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Abstract
Echolocating bats exhibit excellent control over their acoustic signals emitted and skillfully interpret the returning echoes, allowing orientation and foraging in complete darkness. Echolocation may be a preadaptation for sophisticated vocal communication with conspecifics and, ultimately, vocal learning processes. In humans, the importance of auditory input for correct speech acquisition is obvious, whereas vocal production learning is rare and patchily distributed among non-human mammals. Bats comprise one of the few mammalian taxa capable of vocal production learning, with current behavioral evidence for three species belonging to two families; more evidence will probably forthcoming. The taxon's speciose nature makes bats well suited for phylogenetically controlled, comparative studies on proximate and ultimate mechanisms of mammalian vocal production learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Ulm, Germany; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama.
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Simon R, Knörnschild M, Tschapka M, Schneider A, Passauer N, Kalko EKV, von Helversen O. Biosonar resolving power: echo-acoustic perception of surface structures in the submillimeter range. Front Physiol 2014; 5:64. [PMID: 24616703 PMCID: PMC3935462 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2014.00064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2013] [Accepted: 02/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The minimum distance for which two points still can be separated from each other defines the resolving power of a visual system. In an echo-acoustic context, the resolving power is usually measured as the smallest perceivable distance of two reflecting surfaces on the range axis and is found to be around half a millimeter for bats employing frequency modulated (FM) echolocation calls. Only few studies measured such thresholds with physical objects, most often bats were trained on virtual echoes i.e., echoes generated and played back by a computer; moreover, bats were sitting while they received the stimuli. In these studies differences in structure depth between 200 and 340 μm were found. However, these low thresholds were never verified for free-flying bats and real physical objects. Here, we show behavioral evidence that the echo-acoustic resolving power for surface structures in fact can be as low as measured for computer generated echoes and even lower, sometimes below 100 μm. We found this exceptional fine discrimination ability only when one of the targets showed spectral interferences in the frequency range of the bats′ echolocation call while the other target did not. This result indicates that surface structure is likely to be perceived as a spectral quality rather than being perceived strictly in the time domain. Further, it points out that sonar resolving power directly depends on the highest frequency/shortest wavelength of the signal employed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralph Simon
- Department of Sensor Technology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg Erlangen, Germany ; Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm Ulm, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm Ulm, Germany ; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa, Panama
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm Ulm, Germany ; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa, Panama
| | - Annkathrin Schneider
- Institute of Zoology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg Erlangen, Germany
| | - Nadine Passauer
- Institute of Zoology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg Erlangen, Germany
| | - Elisabeth K V Kalko
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm Ulm, Germany ; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa, Panama
| | - Otto von Helversen
- Institute of Zoology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg Erlangen, Germany
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Abstract
Male courtship behaviour towards choosy females often comprises elaborate displays that address multiple sensory channels. In bats, detailed quantitative descriptions of multimodal courtship displays are still fairly scarce, despite the taxon’s speciose nature. We studied male courtship behaviour in a polygynous Neotropical bat, Seba’s short-tailed fruit bat Carollia perspicillata, by monitoring harem males in a captive colony. Courting male C. perspicillata performed stereotypic tactile, visual and acoustic displays. A courtship sequence, directed at one female at a time, lasted up to 120 s. During courtship, males approached females by brachiating or flying, hovered in front of them, pursued them on the wing, sniffed them and repeatedly poked the females with one or both folded wings; the latter behaviour was the most conspicuous male courtship display. Immediately before copulation, males wrapped their wings around the females and bit their necks. As acoustic display, courting male C. perspicillata produced highly variable, monosyllabic courtship trills. The species’ vocal repertoire consisted of ten different social vocalisation types, three for benign interactions (courtship trills, wobbles, isolation calls), four for aggressive encounters (aggressive trills, down-sweeps, warbles, distress calls) and the remaining three for unknown behavioural contexts (V-shaped calls, flat down-sweeps, hooks). Courtship trills and aggressive trills were exclusively produced by males. We measured 245 courtship trills of five males and found statistical evidence for a strong individual signature which has the potential to facilitate female choice, mate recognition or neighbour–stranger recognition among male competitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | - Marion Feifel
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Ulm, Germany
| | - Elisabeth K.V. Kalko
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Greiner
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology; Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research; Berlin Germany
| | - Martina Nagy
- Museum für Naturkunde; Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humboldt University Berlin; Berlin Germany
| | - Frieder Mayer
- Museum für Naturkunde; Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humboldt University Berlin; Berlin Germany
| | | | - Heribert Hofer
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology; Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research; Berlin Germany
| | - Christian C. Voigt
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology; Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research; Berlin Germany
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Corman VM, Rasche A, Diallo TD, Cottontail VM, Stöcker A, Souza BFDCD, Corrêa JI, Carneiro AJB, Franke CR, Nagy M, Metz M, Knörnschild M, Kalko EKV, Ghanem SJ, Morales KDS, Salsamendi E, Spínola M, Herrler G, Voigt CC, Tschapka M, Drosten C, Drexler JF. Highly diversified coronaviruses in neotropical bats. J Gen Virol 2013; 94:1984-1994. [PMID: 23761408 DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.054841-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Bats host a broad diversity of coronaviruses (CoVs), including close relatives of human pathogens. There is only limited data on neotropical bat CoVs. We analysed faecal, blood and intestine specimens from 1562 bats sampled in Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Brazil for CoVs by broad-range PCR. CoV RNA was detected in 50 bats representing nine different species, both frugivorous and insectivorous. These bat CoVs were unrelated to known human or animal pathogens, indicating an absence of recent zoonotic spill-over events. Based on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp)-based grouping units (RGUs) as a surrogate for CoV species identification, the 50 viruses represented five different alphacoronavirus RGUs and two betacoronavirus RGUs. Closely related alphacoronaviruses were detected in Carollia perspicillata and C. brevicauda across a geographical distance exceeding 5600 km. Our study expands the knowledge on CoV diversity in neotropical bats and emphasizes the association of distinct CoVs and bat host genera.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Max Corman
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
| | - Andrea Rasche
- University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Hannover, Germany.,Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
| | | | | | - Andreas Stöcker
- Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory, University Hospital Professor Edgard Santos, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
| | | | - Jefferson Ivan Corrêa
- Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory, University Hospital Professor Edgard Santos, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
| | | | | | - Martina Nagy
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Berlin, Germany
| | - Markus Metz
- Fondazione Edmund Mach, Research and Innovation Centre, Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, S. Michele all'Adige, Italy
| | | | - Elisabeth K V Kalko
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama.,Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Simon J Ghanem
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Karen D Sibaja Morales
- Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica
| | - Egoitz Salsamendi
- Department of Zoology and Animal Cell Biology, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, The Basque Country.,Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Manuel Spínola
- Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica
| | - Georg Herrler
- University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Hannover, Germany
| | | | - Marco Tschapka
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama.,Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Christian Drosten
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
| | - Jan Felix Drexler
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
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44
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Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Nyffeler
- Section of Conservation Biology (NLU), Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
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45
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Nagy M, Günther L, Knörnschild M, Mayer F. Female-biased dispersal in a bat with a female-defence mating strategy. Mol Ecol 2013; 22:1733-45. [PMID: 23379356 DOI: 10.1111/mec.12202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2012] [Revised: 11/23/2012] [Accepted: 11/29/2012] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The ultimate causes for predominant male-biased dispersal (MBD) in mammals and female-biased dispersal (FBD) in birds are still subject to much debate. Studying exceptions to general patterns of dispersal, for example, FBD in mammals, provides a valuable opportunity to test the validity of proposed evolutionary pressures. We used long-term behavioural and genetic data on individually banded Proboscis bats (Rhynchonycteris naso) to show that this species is one of the rare mammalian exceptions with FBD. Our results suggest that all females disperse from their natal colonies prior to first reproduction and that a substantial proportion of males are philopatric and reproduce in their natal colonies, although male immigration has also been detected. The age of females at first conception falls below the tenure of males, suggesting that females disperse to avoid father-daughter inbreeding. Male philopatry in this species is intriguing because Proboscis bats do not share the usual mammalian correlates (i.e. resource-defence polygyny and/or kin cooperation) of male philopatry. They have a mating strategy based on female defence, where local mate competition between male kin is supposedly severe and should prevent the evolution of male philopatry. However, in contrast to immigrant males, philopatric males may profit from acquaintance with the natal foraging grounds and may be able to attain dominance easier and/or earlier in life. Our results on Proboscis bats lent additional support to the importance of inbreeding avoidance in shaping sex-biased dispersal patterns and suggest that resource defence by males or kin cooperation cannot fully explain the evolution of male philopatry in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Nagy
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Invalidenstraße 43, D-10115, Berlin, Germany
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46
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Abstract
Bat echolocation is primarily used for orientation and foraging but also holds great potential for social communication. The communicative function of echolocation calls is still largely unstudied, especially in the wild. Eavesdropping on vocal signatures encoding social information in echolocation calls has not, to our knowledge, been studied in free-living bats so far. We analysed echolocation calls of the polygynous bat Saccopteryx bilineata and found pronounced vocal signatures encoding sex and individual identity. We showed experimentally that free-living males discriminate approaching male and female conspecifics solely based on their echolocation calls. Males always produced aggressive vocalizations when hearing male echolocation calls and courtship vocalizations when hearing female echolocation calls; hence, they responded with complex social vocalizations in the appropriate social context. Our study demonstrates that social information encoded in bat echolocation calls plays a crucial and hitherto underestimated role for eavesdropping conspecifics and thus facilitates social communication in a highly mobile nocturnal mammal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany.
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47
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Drexler JF, Corman VM, Müller MA, Maganga GD, Vallo P, Binger T, Gloza-Rausch F, Cottontail VM, Rasche A, Yordanov S, Seebens A, Knörnschild M, Oppong S, Sarkodie YA, Pongombo C, Lukashev AN, Schmidt-Chanasit J, Stöcker A, Carneiro AJB, Erbar S, Maisner A, Fronhoffs F, Buettner R, Kalko EKV, Kruppa T, Franke CR, Kallies R, Yandoko ER, Herrler G, Reusken C, Hassanin A, Krüger DH, Matthee S, Ulrich RG, Leroy EM, Drosten C. Bats host major mammalian paramyxoviruses. Nat Commun 2012; 3:796. [PMID: 22531181 PMCID: PMC3343228 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 467] [Impact Index Per Article: 38.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2011] [Accepted: 03/19/2012] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The large virus family Paramyxoviridae includes some of the most significant human and livestock viruses, such as measles-, distemper-, mumps-, parainfluenza-, Newcastle disease-, respiratory syncytial virus and metapneumoviruses. Here we identify an estimated 66 new paramyxoviruses in a worldwide sample of 119 bat and rodent species (9,278 individuals). Major discoveries include evidence of an origin of Hendra- and Nipah virus in Africa, identification of a bat virus conspecific with the human mumps virus, detection of close relatives of respiratory syncytial virus, mouse pneumonia- and canine distemper virus in bats, as well as direct evidence of Sendai virus in rodents. Phylogenetic reconstruction of host associations suggests a predominance of host switches from bats to other mammals and birds. Hypothesis tests in a maximum likelihood framework permit the phylogenetic placement of bats as tentative hosts at ancestral nodes to both the major Paramyxoviridae subfamilies (Paramyxovirinae and Pneumovirinae). Future attempts to predict the emergence of novel paramyxoviruses in humans and livestock will have to rely fundamentally on these data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Felix Drexler
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, 53127 Germany
| | - Victor Max Corman
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, 53127 Germany
| | | | - Gael Darren Maganga
- Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon
| | - Peter Vallo
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Tabea Binger
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, 53127 Germany
| | - Florian Gloza-Rausch
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, 53127 Germany
- Noctalis, Centre for Bat Protection and Information, Bad Segeberg, Germany
| | | | - Andrea Rasche
- Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, Hannover, Germany
| | - Stoian Yordanov
- Forestry Board Directorate of Strandja Natural Park, Malko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
| | - Antje Seebens
- Noctalis, Centre for Bat Protection and Information, Bad Segeberg, Germany
| | | | - Samuel Oppong
- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Yaw Adu Sarkodie
- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | | | | | - Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit
- Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Stöcker
- Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory, University Hospital Professor Edgard Santos, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
| | | | - Stephanie Erbar
- Institute of Virology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Andrea Maisner
- Institute of Virology, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Florian Fronhoffs
- Institute of Pathology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
| | - Reinhard Buettner
- Institute of Pathology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
- Institute of Pathology, University of Cologne Medical Centre, Cologne, Germany
| | - Elisabeth K. V. Kalko
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | - Thomas Kruppa
- Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi, Ghana
| | | | - René Kallies
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, 53127 Germany
| | | | - Georg Herrler
- Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, Hannover, Germany
| | - Chantal Reusken
- Netherlands Center for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
| | - Alexandre Hassanin
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 7205, Paris, France
| | - Detlev H. Krüger
- Institute of Medical Virology (Helmut Ruska Haus), Charité Medical School, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sonja Matthee
- Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Rainer G. Ulrich
- Institute for Novel and Emerging Infections Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute for Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Greifswald–Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Eric M. Leroy
- Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR 224 (MIVEGEC), IRD/CNRS/UM1, Montpellier, France
| | - Christian Drosten
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, 53127 Germany
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Nagy M, Knörnschild M, Voigt CC, Mayer F. Male greater sac-winged bats gain direct fitness benefits when roosting in multimale colonies. Behav Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ars003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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49
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Gonzalez-Terrazas TP, Medellin RA, Knörnschild M, Tschapka M. Morphological specialization influences nectar extraction efficiency of sympatric nectar-feeding bats. J Exp Biol 2012; 215:3989-96. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.068494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Summary
Mammals frequently use nectar as a supplementary food, while a predominantly nectarivorous lifestyle with morphological specializations for this feeding mode is rare within the class. However, Neotropical flower-visiting bats largely depend on nectar resources and show distinct adaptations to a nectar diet. Glossophagine bats form local guilds of 2-6 species that may differ distinctly in skull morphology. It is still unknown how and to what extent this morphological diversity influences the efficiency of nectar extraction and hence also resource partitioning within the local bat guild. As foraging behaviour is a key factor for niche partitioning of coexisting species, we compared nectar extraction behaviour and efficiency at different flower depths among sympatric bat species with different degrees of morphological specialization (Glossophaga soricina, Leptonycteris yerbabuenae, Musonycteris harrisoni). In flight cage experiments with artificial flowers all species showed at deeper nectar levels a decrease in the amount extracted per visit and an increase in time spent hovering at the flower, indicating increased energetic cost when foraging on longer-tubed flowers. The lowest nectar extraction efficiency (g/s) was found in the small G. soricina and the highest in the largest species L. yerbabuenae. However, when considering also the different energy requirements of the different-sized bat species, the morphologically most specialized Musonycteris harrisoni showed consistently the highest foraging efficiency. Our data suggest that the long rostrum and tongue of the extremely specialized M. harrisoni are probably not evolved for monopolization of coevolved deep flowers, but allow efficient access to the broadest range of the local chiropterophilous flower community.
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50
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Knörnschild M, Glöckner V, Helversen OV. The Vocal Repertoire of Two Sympatric Species of Nectar-Feeding Bats (Glossophaga soricinaandG. commissarisi). Acta Chiropterologica 2010. [DOI: 10.3161/150811010x504707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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