Estresse nos morcegos Artibeus obscurus e Artibeus fimbriatus (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) como resposta à perturbação ambiental

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Resposta fenotípica integrada do morcego frugívoro Artibeus lituratus (Chiroptera, phyllostomidae) frente à redução da qualidade da dieta

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Efeito da fragmentação no metabolismo energético e nível trófico em duas espécies de morcegos frugívoros, Artibeus lituratus e Carollia perspicillata (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Seasonal changes in the prostatic complex of Artibeus planirostris (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Efeito da fragmentação florestal sobre parâmetros hematológicos em três espécies de morcegos (Artibeus lituratus, Carollia perspicillata e Sturnira lilium)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

O ato alimentar em três espécies de Artibeus de grande porte (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) do Sudeste brasileiro

The alimentary act of three species of frugivorous bats of the genus Artibeus: A. lituratus, A. fimbriatus and A. planirostris, in a total of nine individuals, was studied by observations in field and captivity, during the months of May to September of 2008. With the objective to caracterize the form of consumption of two tipes of fruits (soft and consistent) and it relates with the dentary structure of this bats, the alimentary act was film and analysed later. It had little variation between the species. The fruits had been consumed in similar way, being that statistics analisis had demonstrated that consistent fruits had received more lateral bytes than the soft fruits. The dentary analisis shown that the posterior teeth (pre-molar and molar) present important characteristcs to triturate pieces of more consistent fruits and the incisors serve to scrape the pulp of the soft fruits. This study it served to describe the form of feeding of frugivorous bats, that little is explained in the studies of alimentary behavior

A influência da testosterona nas glândulas reprodutivas acessórias de Artibeus planirostris (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Morfologia do útero e ovários de Artibeus planirostris (Phyllostomidae: Chiroptera) durante as fases do ciclo reprodutivo

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Movements of bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) in Atlantic Forest remnants in southern Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Diversidade de morcegos (Mammalia, Chiroptera) em remanescentes florestais do município de Fênix, noroeste do Paraná, Brasil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A review of complete albinism in bats with five new cases from Brazil

Complete albinism is a rare phenomenon that occurs in all vertebrate groups. In bats, albinism has been recorded in several species but this information has not previously been reviewed in detail nor has there been an analysis of its importance. In this study, cases of albinism from the literature are checked and new cases are presented. Complete albinism in bats is documented in eight families, 38 species, and at least 64 individuals (47.4% female female and 52.6% males; n = 38). of these, 39 individuals were observed and/or captured in sheltered roosts, such as caves (51.3%), mines and galleries (20.5%), buildings (17.9%), and hollow-trees and bird boxes (7.7%). Only one albino bat (2.6%) was captured in an external roost (foliage). This individual is the fruit bat, Artibeus planirostris, which is recorded here for the first time. Information on four additional cases of albino individuals of the common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus, is also presented. It is suggested that sheltered roosts favour survival of albino bars, offering protection against sunlight, water loss, and visually hunting predators.

Attraction of fruit-eating bats with essential oils of fruits: A potential tool for forest restoration

Previous tests with essential oils from ripe chiropterochoric fruits suggested they can be used to attract and capture fruit-eating bats inside forest remnants. Here we evaluated the efficiency of these oils to attract frugivorous bats to open areas. We performed field tests with artificial fruits impregnated with essential oils of the genera Piper or Ficus that were attached to two groups of mist-nets set 50 m outside the border of a forest remnant. One group of artificial fruits received the corresponding oil isolated through hydrodistillation and the other received water only. Fruits with oils attracted significantly more fruit-eating bats, especially Artibeus lituratus that regularly crosses open habitats to reach other forest remnants. The highly significant attraction of A. lituratus by the oil of Piper was unexpected, since this bat is a specialist on Ficus fruits. We hypothesize that in habitats with no fruit available it is possible to attract frugivorous bats with the odor of several ripe fruit species. Furthermore, we verified that almost half of the individuals captured defecated seeds, indicating that the oils also attract recently fed bats, even when their preferred food is available nearby. This technique potentially may increase seed rain at specific locations, being particularly promising to restoration projects.

Moscas ectoparasitas (Diptera, Streblidae e Nycteribiidae) em morcegos (Mammalia, Chiroptera) em área de Floresta com Araucária no Estado do Paraná, sul do Brasil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Thermogenic capacity of three species of fruit-eating phyllostomid bats

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Paracellular Absorption: A Bat Breaks the Mammal Paradigm

Bats tend to have less intestinal tissue than comparably sized nonflying mammals. The corresponding reduction in intestinal volume and hence mass of digesta carried is advantageous because the costs of flight increase with load carried and because take-off and maneuverability are diminished at heavier masses. Water soluble compounds, such as glucose and amino acids, are absorbed in the small intestine mainly via two pathways, the transporter-mediated transcellular and the passive, paracellular pathways. Using the microchiropteran bat Artibeus literatus (mean mass 80.6 +/- 3.7 g), we tested the predictions that absorption of water-soluble compounds that are not actively transported would be extensive as a compensatory mechanism for relatively less intestinal tissue, and would decline with increasing molecular mass in accord with sieve-like paracellular absorption. Using a standard pharmacokinetic technique, we fed, or injected intraperitonealy the metabolically inert carbohydrates L-rhamnose (molecular mass = 164 Da) and cellobiose (molecular mass = 342 Da) which are absorbed only by paracellular transport, and 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (3OMD-glucose) which is absorbed via both mediated (active) and paracellular transport. As predicted, the bioavailability of paracellular probes declined with increasing molecular mass (rhamnose, 90 +/- 11%; cellobiose, 10 +/- 3%, n = 8) and was significantly higher in bats than has been reported for laboratory rats and other mammals. In addition, absorption of 3OMD-glucose was high (96 +/- 11%). We estimated that the bats rely on passive, paracellular absorption for more than 70% of their total glucose absorption, much more than in non-flying mammals. Although possibly compensating for less intestinal tissue, a high intestinal permeability that permits passive absorption might be less selective than a carrier-mediated system for nutrient absorption and might permit toxins to be absorbed from plant and animal material in the intestinal lumen.