On the occurence of a short period of delayed implantation in Schreibers’long‐fingered bat (Miniopterus schreibersii) from a tropical latitude in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Mating in Schrcibers’long‐fingered bat (Miniopterus schreibersii) from central Zimbabwe (18°S) occurred between mid‐April and mid‐May, after a five‐month period of spermatogenesis. Implantation was delayed until early July and parturition occurred between late October and mid‐November, about four months after implantation and six to seven months after fertilization. The timing and length of gestation at 18°S are similar to that described for M. schreibersii from Zaire (11σS) and when these date are compared with those for the same species from higher latitudes in Africa, it is apparent that there is a small, but distinct, increase in the total length of pregnancy and the length of delayed implantation with increasing latitude. The reproductive bilogy of Miniopterus schreibersii from Africa and France differs fundamentally from that of the same species from Australia and Japan, and it is suggested that studies of the relationship between latitude and duration of delayed implantation should be based on comparisons within single species from different latitudes on the same continent, and that comparisons between species and between continents should be avoided.