Sexual Segregation and Flexible Mating Patterns in Temperate Bats

Fuente: Zenodo
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Angell, Ruth L., Butlin, Roger K., Altringham, John D., Fenton, Brock
Formato: Recurso digital
Publicado: Zenodo 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866901435236483072
author Angell, Ruth L.
Butlin, Roger K.
Altringham, John D.
Fenton, Brock
author_facet Angell, Ruth L.
Butlin, Roger K.
Altringham, John D.
Fenton, Brock
contents (Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Social structure evolves from a trade-off between the costs and benefits of group-living, which are in turn dependent upon the distribution of key resources such as food and shelter. Males and females, or juveniles and adults, may have different priorities when selecting habitat due to differences in physiological or behavioural imperatives, leading to complex patterns in group composition. We studied social structure and mating behaviour in the insectivorous bat Myotis daubentonii along an altitudinal gradient, combining field studies with molecular genetics. With increasing altitude the proportion of males in summer roosts increased and only males were present in the highest roosts. With increasing altitude environmental temperature decreased, nightly variation in temperature increased, and bat foraging activity decreased, supporting the hypothesis that the harsher, high elevation sites cannot support breeding females. We found that offspring in femaledominated lowland roosts had a very high probability of being fathered by bats caught during autumn swarming at hibernation sites, in contrast to those in intermediate roosts, which had a high probability of being fathered by males sharing the nursery roost with the females. Whilst females normally appear to exclude males from nursery colonies, for those in marginal habitats, one explanation for the presence of males is that the thermoregulatory benefits to the females may outweigh disadvantages, such as competition for food, and give some males an opportunity to increase their breeding success. We suggest that the environment, and its effects on resource distribution, thus determine social structure, which in turn determines the mating pattern that has evolved.
format Recurso digital
id zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_13484750
institution Zenodo
language
publishDate 2013
publisher Zenodo
record_format zenodo
spellingShingle Sexual Segregation and Flexible Mating Patterns in Temperate Bats
Angell, Ruth L.
Butlin, Roger K.
Altringham, John D.
Fenton, Brock
Biodiversity
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Chordata
Animalia
bats
bat
(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Social structure evolves from a trade-off between the costs and benefits of group-living, which are in turn dependent upon the distribution of key resources such as food and shelter. Males and females, or juveniles and adults, may have different priorities when selecting habitat due to differences in physiological or behavioural imperatives, leading to complex patterns in group composition. We studied social structure and mating behaviour in the insectivorous bat Myotis daubentonii along an altitudinal gradient, combining field studies with molecular genetics. With increasing altitude the proportion of males in summer roosts increased and only males were present in the highest roosts. With increasing altitude environmental temperature decreased, nightly variation in temperature increased, and bat foraging activity decreased, supporting the hypothesis that the harsher, high elevation sites cannot support breeding females. We found that offspring in femaledominated lowland roosts had a very high probability of being fathered by bats caught during autumn swarming at hibernation sites, in contrast to those in intermediate roosts, which had a high probability of being fathered by males sharing the nursery roost with the females. Whilst females normally appear to exclude males from nursery colonies, for those in marginal habitats, one explanation for the presence of males is that the thermoregulatory benefits to the females may outweigh disadvantages, such as competition for food, and give some males an opportunity to increase their breeding success. We suggest that the environment, and its effects on resource distribution, thus determine social structure, which in turn determines the mating pattern that has evolved.
title Sexual Segregation and Flexible Mating Patterns in Temperate Bats
topic Biodiversity
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Chordata
Animalia
bats
bat
url https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13484750