Bat Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation

Abstract

Adams, R. A., and S. C. Pedersen (eds.). 2013. Bat Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation. Springer, New York, 547 pp. ISBN 978-1-4614-7396-1, price (hardbound), $239. The 25 chapters in this edited volume aim to provide a comprehensive review of 3 areas of bat biology: evolution, ecology, and conservation. The preface claims the book will “bring new and fresh perspectives,” “provide new and unpublished data,” and “novel approaches to old questions.” The target audiences are “students, professional biologists, wildlife managers, conservationists, educators, environmental consultants, and anyone else interested.” We read and discussed the entire volume as the focal point of an upper-level undergraduate reading class which led to the following perspective on whether the volume met its goals. Many chapters, especially in the first 2 sections, have a high density of technical terminology, with many words left undefined. This required students to regularly consult outside sources, meaning that the text was relatively inaccessible to at least one group of the target audience. This could have been mitigated with a glossary for the entire volume or alternatively for each chapter. Another issue is that not all chapters were bat specific. A number of authors claimed that bats were an “obvious choice” in the context of the specific chapter focus (e.g., monitoring climate change or neonate development) but did not provide a concrete rationale for why bats are good model organisms for the purpose. Section 1 ( Evolution ) consists of 7 chapters subdivided into 2 main themes: development and phylogenetics. Cooper and Sear’s account of the embryonic development of bat wings is filled with jargon and acronyms and thus hard to penetrate. The chapter also overenthusiastically advertises evolutionary developmental biology. Adams and Shaw assess the evolutionary development and history of bat flight in the context of ontogenetic recapitulation. Even if, as the chapter claims, the basic mechanics and neurology for reflexive flapping are present before birth, this does not preclude that bats evolved flapping flight without gliding first. Most … Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada; e-mail: mark.brigham{at}uregina.ca.