Abstract
In order to study the relationship between landmarks and spatial memory in short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Megachiroptera, Pteropodidae), we simulated a foraging environment in the laboratory. Different landmarks were placed to gauge the spatial memory of C. sphinx. We changed the number of landmarks every day with 0 landmarks again on the fifth day (from 0, 2, 4, 8 to 0). Individuals from the control group were exposed to the identical artificial foraging environment, but without landmarks. The results indicated that there was significant correlation between the time of the first foraging and the experimental days in both groups (Pearson Correlation: experimental group: r=-0.593, P<0.01; control group: r=-0.581, P<0.01). There was no significant correlation between the success rates of foraging and the experimental days in experimental groups (Pearson Correlation: r=0.177, P>0.05), but there was significant correlation between the success rates of foraging and the experimental days in the control groups (Pearson Correlation: r=0.445, P<0.05). There was no significant difference for the first foraging time between experimental and control groups (GLM: F(0.05,1 )=4.703, P>0.05); also, there was no significant difference in success rates of foraging between these two groups (GLM: F(0.05,1 )=0.849, P>0.05). The results of our experiment suggest that spatial memory in C. sphinx was formed gradually and that the placed landmarks appeared to have no discernable effects on the memory of the foraging space.
Highlights
In order to study the relationship between landmarks and spatial memory in short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Megachiroptera, Pteropodidae), we simulated a foraging environment in the laboratory
The aim of this study is to investigate whether the short-nosed fruit bat, C. sphinx, uses landmarks for orientation, and whether landmarks are helpful to the spatial memory
There was no significant correlation between the success rates of foraging and the experimental days in experimental groups
Summary
In order to study the relationship between landmarks and spatial memory in short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Megachiroptera, Pteropodidae), we simulated a foraging environment in the laboratory. In related studies of animal spatial memory, Ulf et al (2008) investigated the effect of local echo acoustic cues on the spatial memory of Pallas’s long-tongued bat, Glossophaga soricina. They found that increasing the density of local spatial cues would improve accuracy in re-locating rewarding feeders by helping bats identify profitable flowers on a small scale. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the short-nosed fruit bat, C. sphinx, uses landmarks for orientation, and whether landmarks are helpful to the spatial memory
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