Vampyrus Research Articles

Light-induced COP9 signalosome expression in the Indian false vampire bat Megaderma lyra

The COP9 signalosome (CSN) is a multi-subunit protein complex conserved in plants and animals. CSN subunits have been identified as light-mediated master regulators of eukaryotic circadian clocks from fungi to animals. The Indian false vampire bat Megaderma lyra is completely adapted to an anthropic biotope and behavioral studies have reported that M. lyra exhibits light-sampling behavior to assess environmental light. LC-MS-MS results for a 36 kDa protein were analyzed using the Sequest search engine, and COP9 signalosome subunit 5 (CSN5) was pinpointed as having the highest score with 6 matching peptides. To confirm the presence of CSN5, up-regulated cDNA was amplified, sequenced, and identified as CSN5. Furthermore, semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the level of induction of CSN5 was regulated by environmental light. We estimated the level of expression across a light-dark cycle and observed a higher level of expression at the end of the light phase. Similarly, when the animal was shifted from continuous dark to light, CSN5 expression was induced. Correspondingly, we detected the similar pattern of translated protein with JAB1 antibody. Knowledge about the circadian rhythm and its molecular mechanism in Chiroptera is very limited and this study suggests that CSN5 might be involved in the M. lyra light-signaling process.

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the Indian false vampire bat Megaderma lyra

We isolated and characterized eight microsatellite markers for Indian false vampire bat Megaderma lyra. These loci were tested on 60 individuals representing four populations, and all loci were highly polymorphic. The mean number of observed alleles per locus was 13.1 (range from 5 to 24). Observed heterozygosity values range from 0.876 to 0.982, and expected heterozygosity value were ranged from 0.986 to 1.0. Out of eight loci, only two loci deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and no pairs of loci were in linkage disequilibrium. These polymorphic markers will be useful to examine population structure, mating and dispersal behaviour, including monitoring the effect of habitat fragmentation and parental analysis.

Mammalia, Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae, Vampyrum spectrum (Linnaeus, 1758): first record for the state of Rondônia, Brazil, and new prey records

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MAMMALIAN PREY OF BARN OWL (TYTO ALBA) IN SOUTHEASTERN OAXACA, MÉXICO

The analysis of pellet contents of Barn Owls from southeastern Oaxaca, Mexico, shows that mammals represent the main prey of this bird. We identified a minimum of 184 individuals from 2 orders, 3 families and 8 species of mammals. The greatest number of prey was from hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), which represented 83.69% of the total individuals and 84.68% of the biomass of the sample. From the other 7 species included in the pellets, 3 were very uncommon species: the cozumelan golden bat (Mimon cozumelae), the false vampire bat (Vampyrum spectrum), and the Peter’s climbing rat (Tylomys nudicaudus). Bats represented 2.17% of prey number and 0.799% of the total biomass estimated in the sample. Comparisons of these results with the estimated abundances by standard trapping methods show differences. These results corroborate a general pattern of barn owl opportunistic predation over the locally most abundant species and bats as rare prey.

Noteworthy bat records from the Pacific Tropical rainforest region and adjacent dry forest in northwestern Peru

ABSTRACT The bat fauna of the Pacific Tropical rainforest region in Peru is poorly known. Here we report noteworthy range extensions of 12 bat species, including: Diaemus youngi, Chrotopterus auritus, Micronycteris minuta, Mimon crenulatum, Vampyrum spectrum, Chiroderma salvini, Enchisthenes hartii, Noctilio leporinus, Thyroptera discifera, Eptesicus chiriquinus, Rhogeessa io, and Myotis riparius. These document the first confirmed records for the department of Tumbes. All, except E. hartii and N. leporinus, are also first records for the western slope of Peru. The record of R. io is the first for Peru, while that of C. auritus is the first for the Pacific versant of the Andes. In total, 41 bat species are present in the Pacific Tropical rainforests and surrounding dry forests, at the new Parque Nacional Cerros de Amotape, in Tumbes. This region requires urgent conservation programs, because the Pacific Tropical rainforest is threatened by human settlement, and resource exploitation in spite of its protec...

Maternal feeding of offspring with vertebrate prey in captive Indian false vampire bat, Megaderma lyra

ABSTRACT We studied relationships between mother and weaned young of captive Indian false vampire bats, Megaderma lyra. Four out of eight young (Group 1) at 60–63 days of age began to capture freshly killed frogs we pulled with a long thread on the sandy floor of flight room. However, the mothers continued to suckle until their young became 84.7 ± 3.97 (x ± SE) days of age. When the remaining four young (Group 2) were 59.5 ± 1.85 days of age their mothers stopped suckling. Nevertheless, these mothers transferred either entire or partly consumed frogs (bodies with no heads, half bodies, paired hind limbs, and single hind limbs) to their young solicitors. Such food transfers occurred based on the body lengths of frogs. Mothers transferred small frogs entirely, but as the body length of frogs increased, mothers transferred smaller body parts to their young. Audible vocalizations of mothers and young were associated with food transfers. When these young bats became 74.0 ± 2.63 days of age, their mothers stop...

Annual cycle of urine output of the Greater Indian False Vampire Bat, Megaderma lyra

Individuals of the Indian False Vampire Bat, Megaderma Iyra, were maintained in captive conditions to study daily urine output for more than two years. Urine was collected and quantified by placing sheets of absorbant paper on the floor of cages beneath the roosting bats. Seasonality in the urine output is reported.

Development of Prey Capture in the Indian False Vampire BatMegaderma Lyra

AbstractWe studied development of prey capture, under captive conditions, on five newly weaned Indian false vampire batsMegaderma lyra. We tested the hypothesis that the young bats are able to improve the ability of hunting by trial and error. An additional hypothesis was that their rate of prey consumption and method of handling prey improve with age. We separated the juveniles from their mothers and observed them individually at different ages. At 58 d of age,M. lyraroosted 2 m above floor level, flew down only towards moving frogs, landed >1 m away from them and returned to roosts without showing attempt to capture. At day 60, bats roosted at 50‐cm heights, landed approx. 1 m away from frogs and moved towards them. Although bats intercepted frogs, their attempts to capture were still unsuccessful. At day 62, bats landed <1 m from frogs, made similar attempts and most of them were successful. Bats carried frogs, roosted at heights of 100 cm and started consuming. Numbers of jumps made by frogs and attempts made by bats during successful captures decreased with increase in age of bats. Furthermore, the distance between landing sites of bats and places where frogs stayed during landings decreased with advancement of age. Until 75 d of age,M. lyradevoured frogs with legs‐first on significantly more occasions. After 75 d, most of the consumptions started with heads of frogs, similar to adults. Duration of feeding on single frogs was significantly longer compared with that of mothers until young were 75‐d old. The study revealed that juveniles were inefficient on localization, rate of consumption, and handling prey at earlier ages (e.g. 60 d). They became efficient on these behavioural components at later age, i.e. after 75 d. Thus, the results were in accordance with both the hypotheses. Bats did not respond to stationary frogs.

Multivariate analyses of the skull size and shape in the five geographical populations of the lesser false vampire

The geographical variations of the skull in the lesser false vampire (Megaderma spasma) were osteometrically compared between the traditionally-accepted subspecies from Philippines, Borneo, Java, North and South Thailand-Peninsular Malaysia. In female the population from Philippines was larger than any other population in skull size, whereas in male, the size tendency was not clearly found. The population of North Thailand was smaller than the four other populations at least in mean value of measurements in both sexes. The canonical discriminant analysis essentially separated the populations in the scattergrams of discriminant scores. However, the plots of Java, North Thailand and South Thailand-Peninsular Malaysia populations were intermingled in male, and Borneo population could not be obviously separated from the Java and South Thailand-Peninsular Malaysia populations in female.

When true is false, and false is true

It is surprising to see how many times the false potato beetle (Leptinotarsa juncta (Germar)) is incorrectly presented as Colorado potato beetle (the famous L. decemlineata (Say)) in widely-circulated entomological publications (e.g. Milne & Milne 1980), and in numerous websites. These, then, are truly “false” potato beetles! Beyond errors such as this, there is a philosophical question of whether any (good) species should be called “false.” Official ESA Common Names include nine unfortunate species in seven orders listed with official common names including the label “false” (including the above-mentioned false potato beetle). Try this search at http://www.entsoc.org/ Pubs/Common_Names/ entering *false* under common name. Of these nine, three are distinguished from their namesakes at the species level, three at the genus level, two at the family level, and one—the pine false webworm, a sawfly—is in a different order from the pine webworm, a pyralid moth. Of the roughly 880,000 species lists on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) 2006 Annual Checklist, 853 are listed with “false” in the vernacular name, yet only 26 with “true”! “False” is a particularly common plant moniker, perhaps because the plant in question did not measure up in some way medicinally or culinarily, or perhaps it poisoned its collector, as would the false morel mushroom. The common names of plants offer many more “false” names than any other groups, probably an outgrowth of the Doctrine of Signatures (Lehane 1977), which focused on human use of plants, guided supposedly by the signs God had left for their use on Earth. So we have boneset and false boneset, the former one the true remedy as allegedly signified by its perfoliate (fused) leaves. The Merriam-Webster Unabr idged D i c t i o n a r y lists vernacular names for 84 organisms as false this or that, 71 of them h igher plants, four fungi, three mammals (including the false killer whale and the false vampire bat), one fish, one mollusk, two insects (false wireworm and false chinch bug), and two groups of other arthropods, false scorpions and false spider mites, not to mention three plant diseases including cranberry false blossom (vectored by a leafhopper), and three animal diseases including false gid (caused by the sheep botfly). Yet, as entomologists, we know that common names are rare and fickle, whereas scientific names are the basis for all taxonomic discourse! But here we have the even more rampant use of pseudo. Of the ITIS 880,000, over 20,000 species names and 13,000 species with genus names include the “false” root pseud-! Take for example the widely-used laboratory animal Drosophila pseudoobscura Dobzhansky (Diptera: Drosophilidae). The opposite moniker, vera, (or veris, or verum) is much less common, Dioctria vera Back (Diptera: Asilidae) being only When true is false, and false is true

A preliminary examination of genetic diversity in the Indian false vampire bat Megaderma lyra

Habitat loss and fragmentation have serious consequences for species extinction as well as genetic diversity within a species. Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was employed to assess the genetic diversity within and between four natural populations of M. lyra. Our results suggest that the genetic diversity varied from 0.21 to 0.26 with a mean of 0.11 to 0.13 (± SD). The mean Gst value of 0.15 was obtained from all four populations and estimated average Nm (1.41) showing gene flow between the populations. AMOVA analysis showed 88.96% within and 11.04% among the studied populations. Cluster analyses of RAPD phenotypes showed that specimens were not grouped by geographical origin. The genetic diversity found in the M. lyra population may be explained by its breeding behaviors. Though preliminary, the results indicate that all four populations should be considered to maintain the genetic diversity.

Need for Integrated Research for a Sustainable Future in Tropical Dry Forests

Need for Integrated Research for a Sustainable Future in Tropical Dry Forests

Evidence of fish in the diet of Greater False Vampire Bat Megaderma lyra in Sri Lanka

Evidence of fish in the diet of Greater False Vampire Bat Megaderma lyra in Sri Lanka

Hunting in unfamiliar space: echolocation in the Indian false vampire bat, Megaderma lyra, when gleaning prey

The literature suggests that in familiar laboratory settings, Indian false vampire bats (Megaderma lyra, family Megadermatidae) locate terrestrial prey with and without emitting echolocation calls in the dark and cease echolocating when simulated moonlit conditions presumably allow the use of vision. More recent laboratory-based research suggests that M. lyra uses echolocation throughout attacks but at emission rates much lower than those of other gleaning bats. We present data from wild-caught bats hunting for and capturing prey in unfamiliar conditions mimicking natural situations. By varying light level and substrate complexity we demonstrated that hunting M. lyra always emit echolocation calls and that emission patterns are the same regardless of light/substrate condition and similar to those of other wild-caught gleaning bats. Therefore, echoic information appears necessary for this species when hunting in unfamiliar situations, while, in the context of past research, echolocation may be supplanted by vision, spatial memory or both in familiar spaces.

Food Habits Of Bats Of Subfamily Vampyrinae in Brazil

We describe and compare diets of 3 species of vampyrine bats based on analysis of food remains found in gastrointestinal tracts of preserved museum specimens. We also examined possible ontogenetic, intersexual, geographic, and seasonal variations in feeding habits of each species. Trachops cirrhosus fed mainly on insects (79% of prey items), whereas Chrotopterus auritus and Vampyrum spectrum primarily ate small vertebrates (61– 73% of prey items for both species). Vertebrate prey most frequently eaten by C. auritus were murid rodents whereas V. spectrum consumed primarily passerine birds. The frequency of occurrence of food items did not differ significantly with age or sex, at least for T. cirrhosus and C. auritus. Significant seasonal variations in diet were observed only for C. auritus, which consumed more insects during the wet season. Our findings confirm the importance of insects in the diet of T. cirrhosus and present new information on a diversified diet for V. spectrum and opportunistic feeding for C. auritus.

Population Size and Survival in the Indian False Vampire BatMegaderma lyra

We used the Jolly-Seber method to analyze mark-recapture data and estimate both survival and population size in the Indian false vampire bat Megaderma lyra in Madurai (South India). Population size of bats from 2001 to 2003 varied from 379 to 476, and showed fluctuation in numbers for both sexes. The mean (plusmn;SE) survival rate of females (1.26 ± 0.33) exceeded that of males (1.02 ± 0.16) although the differences were not statistically significant. We observed a gradual decline in reproduction as indicated by the number of pups born in each year. This was consistent with a declining trend in population size from 1995 to 2003. We hypothesize a few reasons for this fall in population size, including habitat destruction and human poaching of bats.

Effects of Different Surfaces on the Perception of Prey-Generated Noise by the Indian False Vampire BatMegaderma lyra

The low- and high-frequency components of a rustling sound, created when prey (freshly killed frog) was jerkily pulled on dry and wet sandy floors and asbestos, were recorded and played back to individual Indian false vampire bats (Megaderma lyra). Megaderma lyra responded with flight toward the speakers and captured dead frogs, that were kept as reward. The spectral peaks were at 8.6, 7.1 and 6.8 kHz for the low-frequency components of the sounds created at the dry, asbestos and wet floors, respectively. The spectral peaks for the high-frequency sounds created on the respective floors were at 36.8,27.2 and 23.3 kHz. The sound from the dry floor was more intense than that of from the other two substrata. Prey movements that generated sonic or ultrasonic sounds were both sufficient and necessary for the bats to detect and capture prey. The number of successful prey captures was significantly greater for the dry floor sound, especially to its high-frequency components. Bat-responses were low to the wet floor and moderate to the asbestos floor sounds. The bats did not respond to the sound of unrecorded parts of the tape. Even though the bats flew toward the speakers when the prey generated sounds were played back and captured the dead frogs we cannot rule out the possibility of M. lyra using echolocation to localize prey. However, the study indicates that prey that move on dry sandy floor are more vulnerable to predation by M. lyra.

Prey‐Correlated Spectral Changes in Echolocation Sounds of the Indian False Vampire Megaderma lyra

False Vampires (Megaderma lyra) are gleaning bats which emit brief (1 ms) and faint echolocation signals consisting of four harmonics of a shallow frequency downward modulated fundamental (27–19 kHz). The complete signal spans a frequency range from 100 to 19 kHz. In sound recordings from three experimental animals we show that Megaderma lyra shifts the dominant frequency in the echolocation signals in relation to the type of prey offered and to flight style. During roaming flights the mean peak frequency was 63.2 ± 9 kHz (third harmonic). In prey catching flights, peak frequencies were shifted into the fourth harmonic. In flights towards a dish of crawling mealworms, mean peak frequency was raised to 91.2 ± 3.3 kHz. When the bats flew towards living mice the dominant frequency was further increased to 99.8 ± 5.2 kHz, and the second and third harmonic were at least 10 dB fainter or no longer recordable. The additional frequency shift when flying towards mice was not only a consequence of the dominance of the fourth harmonic but also of an additional rise of the fundamental harmonic by nearly 2 kHz. These prey‐correlated frequency shifts in echolocation calls showed little variation between the three experimental animals and were reproducible over time. They occurred at or even before take‐off of the bats. This is the first report of target‐correlated transient adaptations in echolocation calls of any bat species.

Roost-mate communication in adult Indian false vampire bats ( Megaderma lyra ): an indication of individuality in temporal and spectral pattern

The remarkable cognitive abilities of bats indicate that they may recognise particular conspecifics. Because of their highly developed auditory system, it is obvious that vocalisations of bats may give information about the individual emitting them. In a field study of the social behaviour in the Indian false vampire bat (Megaderma lyra), two different types of vocalisation were recorded and analysed. The bats emitted these vocalisations only while aggregating with conspecifics inside the day roost. The “landing strophe” consisted of a number of brief multiharmonic downward frequency-modulated (FMdown) sounds which levelled off as a constant frequency (CF), and the “clatter strophe” was composed of a number of multiharmonic FMdown sounds which became shallow at the end as a short CF. The sounds of the landing strophe and the ¶clatter strophe differed in repetition rate, duration, harmonic components and frequency. Time pattern and peak frequency of the two sound types differed highly significantly between single, unidentified bats. The sounds were inter-individually distinct when the three parameters were combined as an acoustical space. Therefore, these vocalisations might be used for individual recognition in adult bats.

Postnatal growth and age estimation in the Indian false vampire bat (Megaderma lyra)

AbstractThe Indian false vampire bat Megaderma lyra produces a single young under captive conditions, which is altricial at birth. Empirical growth curves were derived by measuring length of forearm, body mass and length of the total gap of the fourth metacarpal–phalangeal joint. Length of forearm and body mass followed a linear pattern of growth until day 28 and subsequently reached stability. The length of the total gap of the metacarpal–phalangeal joint initially showed a linear increase up to 4 days, followed by a linear decrease until 34 days when it closed. A quantitative method of estimation of age was derived from values of length of forearm and length of the total gap of the fourth metacarpal–phalangeal joint during the preflight (first 28 days) and postflight stages, respectively. Width of the 95% confidence level was ± 1.2 days at a mean length of forearm of 51.6 mm, and ± 0.07 days at a mean length of the total gap of the fourth metacarpal–phalangeal joint of 1.89 mm. Initiation of flight occurred 24 days after birth. At 28 days of age, young were able to forage on their own. There was no significant difference in the growth pattern of young held in captivity compared to that of young grown under natural conditions.