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There are more than 1,300 species of bats—or almost a quarter of the world’s mammal species. But before you shrink in fear from these furry “creatures of the night,” consider the bat’s fundamental role in our ecosystem. A single brown bat can eat several thousand insects in a night. Bats also pollinate and disperse the seeds for many of the plants we love, from bananas to mangoes and figs. Bats: A World of Science and Mystery presents these fascinating nocturnal creatures in a new light. Lush, full-color photographs portray bats in flight, feeding, and mating in views that show them in exceptional detail. The photos also take the reader into the roosts of bats, from caves and mines...
The night skies are filled with over 1200 species of bats, which comprise twenty-two percent of all living mammals, and have a total population in the billions. Our lives and theirs are intimately linkedin ecological systems in which they are key pollinators, and in human health, as vectors of disease. Their abilities to echolocate have inspired incredible biotechnology. And yet there is no up to date book that conveys an ecological and economic significance of bats, which is as vast as their incredible wingspans. This book is a tour of what is currently known about the biology of bats. It answers questions about where bats live; what they eat; why some bats hibernate and others migrate; why...
In recent years researchers have discovered that bats play key roles in many ecosystems as insect predators, seed dispersers, and pollinators. Bats also display astonishing ecological and evolutionary diversity and serve as important models for studies of a wide variety of topics, including food webs, biogeography, and emerging diseases. In Bat Ecology, world-renowned bat scholars present an up-to-date, comprehensive, and authoritative review of this ongoing research. The first part of the book covers the life history and behavioral ecology of bats, from migration to sperm competition and natural selection. The next section focuses on functional ecology, including ecomorphology, feeding, and...
Bats are dangerous to man. Right? Wrong. Here is the truth about chiroptera, the only mammals that fly, in a short, well-illustrated account based on solid research but intended for a general reader. Bats, of which there are about 850 species in the world, are maligned as carriers of rabies (largely untrue) and admired for their biosonar. Heir diversity is reflected in their diets: some eat fruit, some nectar and pollen, other fish, birds, frogs, or other bats. Although most eat insects, it is the three species of blood-feeding vampires which receive most public attention and around which much myth and superstition (and misconception) have evolved. In addition to their diet and habit, Fenton...
"This book is timely, and it provides a well-researched, compact entry to this literature." --Animal Behaviour Communication in the Chiroptera reviews the available information about communication in chiroptera including brilliant suggestions on the relationship of bat communication to the general subject of communication.
As dusk settles over the Costa Rican forest, the short-tailed fruit bat, Carollia perspicillata, stirs from its cave roost. Flying out to search for ripe fruit, Carollia returns to a night roost in the forest vegetation to eat. After a few such flights Carollia rests, and the fruits pass through its short digestive tract. The seeds are excreted onto the ground, to be eaten in turn by mice and insects, but a few are pushed into crevices where they await the necessary conditions for germination. In The Short-tailed Fruit Bat, Theodore Fleming examines Carollia's role in the ecology of tropical forests. Based on more than ten years' research, this study provides the most detailed ecological and evolutionary account to date of the life history of a Neotropical mammal and includes striking photographs of the bats in flight.
Arguably biosonar is one of the ‘eye-opening’ discoveries about animal behavior and the auditory systems of echolocators are front and center in this story. Echolocation by bats has proven to be a virtual gold mine for colleagues studying neurobiology, while providing many rich examples of its impact on other areas of bats’ lives. In this volume we briefly review the history of the topic (reminding readers of the 1995 Hearing by Bats). We use a chapter on new findings in the phylogeny of bats to put the information that follows in an evolutionary context. This includes an examination of the possible roles of Prestin and FoxP2 genes and various anatomical features affecting bat vocalizations. We introduce recent work on the role of noseleafs, ears, and other facial components on the focusing of sound and collection of echoes.
In Greek mythology, the chimera was a hybrid monster. Similarly, bats look like they have the body of a mouse, the face of a gargoyle or fox, and the wings of a pterosaur, giving rise to this book’s title. Evolution’s Chimera describes the amazing physical and behavioural adaptations of bats, using them to illustrate the processes of natural evolution. Bats comprise a quarter of all mammals in the world and are the only mammals that can fly. They occupy every landmass and almost every habitat on Earth. They make up the second-most diverse group of mammals on the planet, numbering more than 1 270 species. And they are among the oldest mammals. They are therefore ideal for the study of how...
Bats have long been the focus of fascination, and sometimes fear: they move faultlessly through the darkness and spend the day hanging upside down in gloomy caverns and cracks – most at home where humans are least comfortable. Bats also represent a hugely important, numerous and varied group, accounting for 20% of all mammal species worldwide. Covering their biodiversity, ecology and natural history, A Miscellany of Bats offers a hoard of insights into the lives of these creatures. For over a quarter of a century Brock Fenton and the late Jens Rydell collaborated on projects involving bats. Here they bring together a collection of stories and anecdotes about bat research, brought to life b...
The first meeting on biosonar that I had the opportunity to attend was held in 1978 on the Island of Jersey in the English Channel. That meeting, organized by Professor R.G. Busne1 and Dr. Jim Fish, was my introduction to an exciting and varied group of hard-working and dedicated scientists studying animal echolocation. They are, by nature, a very diverse group. They tend to publish in different journals and rarely interact despite the fact that they all work on echolocation. When they do interact as a group, as they did in Frascati Italy in 1966, in Jersey i~ 1978, and during the meeting reported in this volume, the meetings are intense, interesting, and exciting. This volume is a compositi...