The metabolism of New Guinean pteropodid bats

Abstract

Rate of metabolism and body temperature were measured in eight species of pteropodid bats that live in Papua New Guinea. These data and those from 13 other species available in the literature are examined to determine the factors with which the energetics of pteropodids are correlated. Lowland populations of species that weigh < 35 g generally have low basal rates and often become torpid, whereas their highland populations had standard or high basal rates and were precise thermoregulators, as were all adult pteropodids that weighed more than 60 g. In large pteropodids belonging to the genera Dobsonia and Pteropus, females are smaller and consequently have lower total basal rates than males. Compared to species found on continents and large islands, species limited in distribution to small islands have lower basal rates, both because of a smaller mass and a reduction of metabolism independent of body mass. These trends are most marked in females that belong to small-island species, adjustments that may facilitate reproduction and survival on small oceanic islands with a limited resource base. Minimal thermal conductances are usually low in species that roost exposed in trees, whereas large species that roost in caves have either standard or high conductances.