Diet and the evolution of digestion and renal function in phyllostomid bats.

Relationships between renal morphology and diet in 26 species of new world bats (suborder microchiroptera).

The renal morphology of 24 species of mormoopid and phyllostomid bats feeding on six different diets was examined to test evolutionary changes in several structural traits presumably led by dietary shifts from ancestral insectivorous diets. The kidneys of a fish-eating vespertilionid and an insect-eating emballonurid were also examined but not included in the phylogenetic comparison. The length...

Bats, viruses, emerging diseases and humans

This paper reviews the unique characteristics of bats, their important roles in providing ecosystem services, their viruses in relation to emerging diseases. Bats, as flying mammals, are the second largest order following rodents, with a wide variety (over 1400 identified species among 230 genera of 21 families in the world) due to their flying power and echolocation. Despite their importance a...

Phylogeography and Genetic Structure of Three Evolutionary Lineages of West Indian Phyllostomid Bats

Higher level classification of phyllostomid bats with a summary of DNA synapomorphies

The family Phyllostomidae (New World leafnosed bats) comprises more than 200 species in 60 genera (see Solari and Martínez-Arias, 2014; Hur tado and Pacheco, 2014), and is the second most speciose chiropteran family (Simmons, 2005). The family has undergone a radiation unparalleled in other mammalian families in terms of ecological and morphological diversity (Freeman, 2000; Dumont et al., 2012...

The role of frugivorous bats in tropical forest succession.

Discussion of successional change has traditionally focused on plants. The role of animals in producing and responding to successional change has received far less attention. Dispersal of plant propagules by animals is a fundamental part of successional change in the tropics. Here we review the role played by frugivorous bats in successional change in tropical forests. We explore the similariti...