Abstract
Changes in habitat and resource availability have induced bats to develop strategies for reproductive delay, including the processes of insemination, embryo implantation, and fetal development. Hipposideros terasensis used the strategy of delayed embryonic development. Bats mated in autumn. Fertilized eggs implanted during the blastula stage, but remained dormant for as long as five months before developing. In male bats, concentrations of testosterone increased from baseline to peak (54.3 ± 4.7 ng/ml) in August, corresponding with spermatogenesis. For female bats, concentrations of progesterone increased to peak levels (27.2 ± 6.8 ng/ml) between February and April, before declining back to baseline after birth in June. Increase and decline coincided, respectively, with resumption of embryo development (March to May) and birth (May to June). Compared to other hibernating species or species with similar reproductive patterns, H. terasensis had similar reproductive quiescence and changes and regulation of reproductive hormones.
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