Bats and Plants: Introduction

Bats and Plants: An Introduction

Bats are a group of mammals in the taxonomic order Chiroptera (meaning "hand wing" in Latin). It is one of the most diverse orders of mammals (second only to Rodentia), with nearly 1,200  total species from 19 families (Kunz and Fenton 2003). Bats are subdivided into two suborders: Megachiroptera (Old World flying foxes) and Microchiroptera (micro bats). All bats are nocturnal, emerging at dusk and foraging for a range of foods including insects, fruit, pollen, nectar, fish, and even other bats in some species (Kunz and Fenton 2003). Whereas there is clearly a high diversity of diets among bat species, this blog will focus on fruit and nectar bats and the coevolutionary relationships that have developed between bats and plants over time. 

(Image reprinted from batworlds.com)

Both clades of bats, Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera, contain species that have converged towards a frugivorous and/or nectarivorous diet over evolutionary time. In total, nearly 300 bat species feed at least partially on fruit, and an additional 50 species on nectar (Kunz and Fenton 2003). Fruit bats feed primarily on ripe fruit and excrete nearly intact seeds, allowing for germination of new plants from that digested fruit (Becker et al. 2010). Similarly, nectar bats come in physical contact with plants when feeding and often gather pollen on their fur. These bats then travel from plant to plant, dropping off and picking up pollen and allowing for cross pollination (Fleming et al. 2009). These behaviors of fruit and nectar bats are ecosystem services, and have important implications for conservation biology.

(Copyright Marco Tschapka)

Because of the aforementioned behaviors, fruit and nectar bats have developed highly specialized morphological and behavioral adaptations to accompany their diets. Concurrently, plants have evolved to complement these traits and enhance the efficiency of bat-plant mutualisms. This is an incredible example of coevolution, and will be further discussed in future posts. 

References

BECKER, N.I., ROTHENWÖHRER, C. and TSCHAPKA, M., 2010. Dynamic feeding habits: Efficiency of frugivory in a nectarivorous bat. Canadian journal of zoology, 88(8), pp. 764-773.

FLEMING, T.H., GEISELMAN, C. and KRESS, W.J., 2009. The evolution of bat pollination: A phylogenetic perspective. Annals of Botany, 104(6), pp. 1017-1043.

KUNZ, T.H. and FENTON, M.B., 2005; 2003. Bat ecology. Paperback edn. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.