Tag: bats

Guest post

Echolocating bats can use the social information provided by the calls of other bats to help find food

This blog post is provided by the Acoustic & Functional Ecology Group at the Max Plank Institute for Ornithology and describes a bat tour to the local lake and how bats use social information to help find food. “Imagine trying to navigate and hunt tiny insects in the open air within cluttered forests in total darkness”, Daniel invites. “Using purely acousticecholocation. No other animals than … Continue reading Echolocating bats can use the social information provided by the calls of other bats to help find food

Journal of Animal Ecology1 Comment
Guest post

Disentangling disease transmission in Madagascar fruit bats

Bats can carry various diseases, including many which are transferable to humans. A recent study published in the Journal of Animal Ecology investigated disease extent, seasonality, and mechanisms of transmission among Malagasy fruit bats. Lead author Dr Cara Brook (Princeton University and UC Berkeley) explains more about the paper. Bats (order Chiroptera) have received much attention in recent years for their roles as reservoirs for … Continue reading Disentangling disease transmission in Madagascar fruit bats

Sarah MarleyLeave a comment
Guest post

Live fast, don’t die young

Understanding the trade-offs between survival and reproduction is essential for the study of population dynamics. A recent paper in the Journal of Animal Ecology used a novel statistical framework to reveal previously unknown life-cycle trends for two sympatric bat species. Lead author Dr Antica Culina from the University of Oxford and Netherlands Institute of Ecology, explains the research. Survival and reproduction both require energy, which is generally … Continue reading Live fast, don’t die young

Sarah MarleyLeave a comment
Guest post

New technologies for listening to bats

As well as being fascinating creatures with a unique sensory ecology, bats are also potentially useful indicator species whose population trends may help to provide broader information about the health of ecosystems. To mark Halloween, Ella Browning and Rory Gibb describe new research developing smart tools to more effectively and accurately monitor bat populations across the globe. Ella Browning and Rory Gibb are both PhD … Continue reading New technologies for listening to bats

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