Open Access
How to translate text using browser tools
1 June 2004 Echolocation Calls and Wing Morphology of Bats from the West Indies
Nancy Vaughan Jennings, Stuart Parsons, Kate E. Barlow, Michael R. Gannon
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Echolocation calls of 119 bats belonging to 12 species in three families from Antillean islands of Puerto Rico, Dominica, and St. Vincent were recorded by using time-expansion methods. Spectrograms of calls and descriptive statistics of five temporal and frequency variables measured from calls are presented. The echolocation calls of many of these species, particularly those in the family Phyllostomidae, have not been described previously. The wing morphology of each taxon is described and related to the structure of its echolocation calls and its foraging ecology. Of slow aerial-hawking insectivores, the Mormoopidae and Natalidae Mormoops blainvillii, Pteronotus davyi davyi, P. quadridens fuliginosus, and Natalus stramineus stramineus can forage with great manoeuvrability in background-cluttered space (close to vegetation), and are able to hover. Pteronotus parnellii portoricensis is able to fly and echolocate in highly-cluttered space (dense vegetation). Among frugivores, nectarivores and omnivores in the family Phyllostomidae, Brachyphylla cavernarum intermedia is adapted to foraging in the edges of vegetation in background-cluttered space, while Erophylla bombifrons bombifrons, Glossophaga longirostris rostrata, Artibeus jamaicensis jamaicensis, A. jamaicensis schwartzi and Stenoderma rufum darioi are adapted to foraging under canopies in highly-cluttered space and do not have speed or efficiency in commuting flight. In contrast, Monophyllus plethodon luciae, Sturnira lilium angeli and S. lilium paulsoni are adapted to fly in highly-cluttered space, but can also fly fast and efficiently in open areas.

LITERATURE CITED

1.

J. K. Adams 1989. Pteronotus davyi. Mammalian Species, 346: 1–5. Google Scholar

2.

H. D. J. N. Aldridge , and I. L. Rautenbach . 1987. Morphology, echolocation and resource partitioning in insectivorous bats. Journal of Animal Ecology, 56: 763–778. Google Scholar

3.

E. L. P. Anthony 1988. Age determination in bats. Pp. 47–58, in Ecological and behavioral methods for the study of bats ( T. H. Kunz , ed.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D. C., 533 pp. Google Scholar

4.

R. J. Baker , J. A. Groen , and R. D. Owen . 1984. Field key to Antillean bats. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 94: 1–18. Google Scholar

5.

G. C. Bateman , and T. A. Vaughan . 1974. Nightly activities of mormoopid bats. Journal of Mammalogy, 55: 45–65. Google Scholar

6.

O. R. P. Bininda-Emonds , and A. P. Russell . 1994. Flight style in bats as predicted from wing morphometry: the effects of specimen preservation. Journal of Zoology (London), 234: 275–287. Google Scholar

7.

F. J. Bonaccorso 1979. Foraging and reproductive ecology in a Panamanian bat community. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, 24: 359–108. Google Scholar

8.

M. B. Fenton 1999. Describing the echolocation calls and behaviour of bats. Acta Chiropterologica, 1: 127–136. Google Scholar

9.

J. H. Fullard , and J. J. Belwood . 1988. The echolocation assemblage: acoustic ensembles in a Neotropical habitat. Pp. 639–643, in Animal sonar: processes and performance ( P. E. Nachtigall and P. W. B. Moore , eds.). Plenum Press, New York, 862 pp. Google Scholar

10.

A. L. Gardner 1977. Feeding habits. Pp. 293–350, in Biology of bats of the New World family Phyllostomatidae. Part II ( R. J. Baker, J. K. Jones Jr., and D. C. Carter , eds.). Special Publications, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 13: 1–364. Google Scholar

11.

R. E. Goodwin 1970. The ecology of Jamaican bats. Journal of Mammalogy, 51: 571–579. Google Scholar

12.

D. R. Griffin , and A. Novick . 1955. Acoustic orientation of Neotropical bats. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 130: 251–299. Google Scholar

13.

E. R. Heithaus , T. H. Fleming , and P. A. Opler . 1975. Foraging patterns and resource utilization in seven species of bats in a seasonal tropical forest. Ecology, 56: 841–854. Google Scholar

14.

S. H. Hurlbert 1984. Pseudoreplication and the design of ecological field experiments. Ecological Monographs, 54: 187–211. Google Scholar

15.

C. Ibáñez , A. Guillén , J. B. Juste , and J. L. Pérez-jordá . 1999. Echolocation calls of Pteronotus davyi (Chiroptera: Mormoopidae) from Panama. Journal of Mammalogy, 80: 924–928. Google Scholar

16.

G. Jones 1995. Variation in bat echolocation: implications for resource partitioning and communication. Le Rhinolophe, 11: 53–59. Google Scholar

17.

J. K. Jones 1978. A new bat of the genus Artibeus from the Lesser Antillean island of St. Vincent. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 51: 1–6. Google Scholar

18.

E. K. V. Kalko , E. A. Herre , and C. O. Handley Jr . 1996. Relation of fig fruit characteristics to fruit-eating bats in the New and Old World tropics. Journal of Biogeography, 23: 565–576. Google Scholar

19.

K. F. Koopman 1994. Chiroptera: systematics. Handbook of Zoology. Vol. 8, Part 60: Mammalia. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 217 pp. Google Scholar

20.

T. Kopka 1973. Beziehungen zwischen Flügelfläche und Körpergröβe bei Chiropteren. Zeitschrift für Wissenschaftliches Zoologie, 185: 235–284. Google Scholar

21.

W. C. Lancaster , and E. K. V. Kalko . 1996. Mormoops blainvillii. Mammalian Species, 544: 1–5. Google Scholar

22.

T. E. Lawlor 1973. Aerodynamic characteristics of some Neotropical bats. Journal of Mammalogy, 54: 71–78. Google Scholar

23.

U. M. Norberg , and J. M. V. Rayner . 1987. Ecological morphology and flight in bats (Mammalia; Chiroptera): wing adaptations, flight performance, foraging strategy and echolocation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 316:335–127. Google Scholar

24.

A. Novick 1963. Orientation in Neotropical bats. II. Phyllostomatidae and Desmodontidae. Journal of Mammalogy, 44: 44–56. Google Scholar

25.

M. J. O'farrell , and B. W. Mller . 1997. A new examination of echolocation calls of some Neotropical bats (Emballonuridae and Mormoopidae). Journal of Mammalogy, 78: 954–963. Google Scholar

26.

S. Parsons 1997. The effect of recording situation on the echolocation calls of the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata Gray). New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 25: 147–156. Google Scholar

27.

A. Rodríguez-Durán , and A. R. Lewis . 1987. Patterns of population size, diet, and activity time for a multispecies assemblage of bats at a cave in Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science, 23: 352–360. Google Scholar

28.

A. Rodríguez-Durán , and R. Vázquez . 2001. The bat Artibeus jamaicensis in Puerto Rico (West Indies): seasonality of diet, activity, and effect of a hurricane. Acta Chiropterologica, 3: 53–61. Google Scholar

29.

H-U. Schnitzler , and E. V. K. Kalko . 1998. How echolocating bats search and find food. Pp. 183–196, in Bat biology and conservation ( T. H. Kunz and P. A. Racey , eds.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 365 pp. Google Scholar

30.

H-U. Schnitzler , E. Kalko , I. Kaipf , and J. Mogdans . 1991. Comparative studies of echolocation and hunting behaviour in the four species of mormoopid bats of Jamaica. Bat Research News, 32: 22–23. Google Scholar

31.

J. D. Smith , and A. Starrett . 1979. Morphometric analysis of chiropteran wings. Pp. 229–316, in Biology of bats of the New World family Phyllostomatidae. Part III ( R. J. Baker, J. K. Jones Jr., and D. C. Carter , eds.). Special Publications, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 16: 1–441. Google Scholar

32.

P. J. Soriano , M. Sosa , and O. Rossell . 1991. Hábitos alimentarios de Glossophaga longirostris Miller (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) en una zona árida de los andes venezolanos. Revista de Biologia Tropical, 39: 263–268. Google Scholar

33.

E. F. Stockwell 2001. Morphology and flight manoeuvrability in New World leaf-nosed bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae). Journal of Zoology (London), 254: 505–514. Google Scholar

34.

T. T. Struhsaker 1961. Morphological factors regulating flight in bats. Journal of Mammalogy, 42: 152–159. Google Scholar

35.

N. Suga 1990. Biosonar and neural computation in bats. Scientific American, June: 34–41. Google Scholar

36.

A. Surlykke 1988. Interaction between echolocating bats and their prey. Pp. 551–566, in Animal sonar systems: processes and performance ( P. E. Nachtigall and P. W. B. Moore , eds.). Plenum Press, New York, 862 pp. Google Scholar

37.

P. Swanepoel , and H. H. Genoways . 1983. Brachyphylla cavernarum. Mammalian Species, 205: 1–6. Google Scholar

38.

W. Thies , E. K. V. Kalko , and H.-U. Schnitzler . 1998. The roles of echolocation and olfaction in two Neotropical fruit-eating bats, Carollia perspicillata and C. castanea, feeding on Piper. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, 42: 397–109. Google Scholar

39.

N. Vaughan , and J. E. Hill . 1996. Bat (Chiroptera) diversity and abundance in banana plantations and rain forest, and three new records for St. Vincent, Lesser Antilles. Mammalia, 60: 441–447. Google Scholar

40.

N. Vaughan , G. Jones , and S. Harris . 1997. Identification of British bat species by multivariate analysis of echolocation call parameters. Bioacoustics, 7: 189–207. Google Scholar

41.

T. A. Vaughan , and G. C. Bateman . 1970. Functional morphology of the forelimb of mormoopid bats. Journal of Mammalogy, 51: 217–235. Google Scholar

42.

M. R. Willig , G. R. Camilo , and S. J. Noble . 1993. Dietary overlap in frugivorous and insectivorous bats from edaphic Cerrado habitats of Brazil. Journal of Mammalogy, 74: 117–128. Google Scholar

43.

M. R. Willig , and M. R. Gannon . 1996. Mammals. Pp. 399–431, in The food web of a tropical rain forest ( D. P. Reagan and R. B. Waide , eds.). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 616 pp. Google Scholar

44.

D. E. Wilson , and D. M. Reeder . 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference, 2nd edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1206 pp. Google Scholar
© Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS
Nancy Vaughan Jennings, Stuart Parsons, Kate E. Barlow, and Michael R. Gannon "Echolocation Calls and Wing Morphology of Bats from the West Indies," Acta Chiropterologica 6(1), 75-90, (1 June 2004). https://doi.org/10.3161/001.006.0106
Received: 2 November 2003; Accepted: 1 January 2004; Published: 1 June 2004
KEYWORDS
Antilles
eco-morphology
flight
Neotropics
sonograms
time expansion
ultrasound
Back to Top