Reproductive Biology Of Bats

The Reproductive Biology of Bats presents the first comprehensive, in-depth review of the current knowledge and supporting literature concerning the behavior, anatomy, physiology and reproductive strategies of bats. These mammals, which occur world-wide and comprise a vast assemblage of species, have evolved unique and successful reproductive strategies through varied anatomical and physiological specialization. These are accompanied by individual and/or group behavioral interactions, usually in response to environmental mechanisms essential to their reproductive success. Is the first book devoted to the reproductive biology of bats Contains in-depth reviews of the literature concerned with bat reproduction Contributors are widely recognized specialists Provides a powerful database for future research

This monograph explains the physiological, biochemical and behavioral processes of male bat reproduction. Chapters cover spermatogenesis, sperm ultrastructure, reproductive homeostasis, apoptotic processes, sperm maturation, sperm storage in female bats, and sexual selection processes. The volume also presents studies focused on the reproductive physiology of Mexican cave bat species. This monograph is a suitable reference for undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as researchers interested in chiropteran reproductive biology.

Bats are flying mammals in the order Chiroptera. The forelimbs of bats are webbed and developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. In this book, the authors present current research in the study of the biology, behavior and conservation of bats. Topics discussed in this compilation include: chiroptophobia (the fear of bats); the reproductive biology of male bats; bats and rabies in Brazil; postnatal development, wing morphology and flight performance of the short-nosed fruit bat; hematophagous bats; prolonged sperm storage in bats and metabolic adaptations in frugivorous bats.

Among living vertebrates bats and birds are unique in their ability to fly, and it is this common feature that sets them apart ecologically from other groups. Bats are in some ways the noctumal equivalents of birds, having evolved and radiated into a diversity of forms to fill many of the same niches. The evolution of flight and echolocation in bats was undoubtedly a prime mover in the diversification of feeding and roosting habits, reproductive strategies, and social behaviors. Bats have successfully colonized almost every continential region on earth (except Antarctica), as weIl as many oceanic islands and archipelagos. They comprise the second largest order of mammals (next to rodents) in number of species and probably exceed all other such groups in overall abundance. Bats exhibit a dietary diversity (including insects, fruits, leaves, flowers, nectar and pollen, fish. other vertebrates, and blood) unparalleled among other living mammals. Their reproductive pattems range from seasonal monestry to polyestry, and mating systems inelude promiscuity, monogamy, and polygyny. The vast majority of what we know about the ecology of bats is derived from studies of only a few of the approximately 850 species, yet in the past two decades studies on bats have escalated to a level where many important empirical pattems and processes have been identified. This knowledge has strengthened our understanding of ecological relationships and encouraged hypothesis testing rather than perpetuated a catalog of miscellaneous observations.

This comprehensive introduction to the biology of bats offers a summary of the large body of information about bats that the scientific community has amassed over the years. Gerhard Neuweiler, a leading, internationally recognized expert in the field, assesses the most current information available about physiological systems, ecology, and phylogeny of bats, as well as the biology of mammals in general. The book also features a thorough discussion of echolocation, a topic currently under intense scrutiny. The broad physiological perspective will allow the book to accompany regionally specific studies of bats. With examples taken from European and neotropical species, as well as North American species, this useful volume documents what is currently known about this highly successful and fascinating order of mammals.

One-quarter of all mammals are bats. This study of the natural history of bats illustrates how their lives exemplify processes and principles of broad biological relevance

Biology of Bats, Volume I, examines most of the basic characteristics related to the anatomy, physiology, behavior, and ecology of the bat. It covers the animal's evolution, as well as karyology, bioeconomics, zoogeography, principles of classification, and procedures and issues involved in the care and management of bats as research subjects in the laboratory. Organized into 10 chapters, this volume begins with a historical overview of bat origins and evolution, karyotypic trends in bats, and the role of karyotypes in studying the biology of bats. It then discusses the bat skeletal and muscular systems; flight patterns and aerodynamics; prenatal and postnatal development; migration and homing; ecology and physiological ecology of bat hibernation; thermoregulation and metabolism; and the urinary system, including gross anatomy and embryology, histophysiology, and renal physiology. It also looks at morphological contrasts between the skulls and dentitions of different families and genera of bats. This book will benefit biologists, zoologists, teachers, and others concerned with the general biology of Chiroptera.

This broadly based volume brings together the twenty-one papers presented at the Seventh International Bat Research Conference in Aberdeen in August 1985 on Flight, Echolocation and Social and Reproductive Biology. These areas of research have seen the most significant advances in recent years and new results are presented and analysed by leading international authorities. The volume includes piipets on the origin, aerodynamics and physiology of flight, on behavioural studies of echolocation including interactions between bats and insects, on narrow band frequency analysis by echolocating bats, on the genetic structure of social groups, alxruism and cooperation, on the energetics of reproduction, and on the activity of the hypothalamo-hypopbyseal-gonad axis in seasonally breeding bats. This volume will be of interest to all who are interested in bats as supreme examples of evolutionary adaptation.