Bat Ecology

Bat Ecology

The Ecology of Bat Reproduction

Did you know there are numerous species of bat, 963 in all, making them second behind the rodents as the mammalian Order with the most number of species. The question addressed in this study was to focus on the ecology of bat reproduction and the many reproductive strategies that bats have evolved throughout time, such as: delayed ovulation, delayed implantation and sperm storage. Every bat spe...

Vampire Bat Rabies: Ecology, Epidemiology and Control

Extensive surveillance in bat populations in response to recent emerging diseases has revealed that this group of mammals acts as a reservoir for a large range of viruses. However, the oldest known association between a zoonotic virus and a bat is that between rabies virus and the vampire bat. Vampire bats are only found in Latin America and their unique method of obtaining nutrition, blood-fee...

Host and viral ecology determine bat rabies seasonality and maintenance.

Rabies is an acute viral infection that is typically fatal. Most rabies modeling has focused on disease dynamics and control within terrestrial mammals (e.g., raccoons and foxes). As such, rabies in bats has been largely neglected until recently. Because bats have been implicated as natural reservoirs for several emerging zoonotic viruses, including SARS-like corona viruses, henipaviruses, and ...

Morphogenesis in bat wings: linking development, evolution and ecology.

The evolution of powered flight in mammals required specific developmental shifts from an ancestral limb morphology to one adapted for flight. Through studies of comparative morphogenesis, investigators have quantified points and rates of divergence providing important insights into how wings evolved in mammals. Herein I compare growth,development and skeletogenesis of forelimbs between bats an...