Inter- and intraspecific comparisons of retention time in insectivorous bat species (Vespertilionidae) ...

• Main Authors: Roswag, A., Becker, N. I., Encarnação, J. A., Bennett, Nigel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2012
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Nyctalus noctula
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13432299; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13432299

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Like other small terrestrial mammals, bats have a high mass-specific energetic demand because of the fact that they have an unfavorable surface area to volume ratio. Furthermore, bats have a very energy-expensive mode of locomotion: flight. This high energetic demand has to be covered by food intake. The retention time of the digestive tract is one factor affecting the energy intake of bat species. Factors like energy demand, gut volume and dietary specialization influence retention time in mammals. However, maximum retention time for only Myotis myotis and transit time only for M. lucifugus, Nyctophilius gloudi and Nyctalus noctula is known. This study investigated the maximum retention times and transit times of 10 Central European bat species. It was hypothesized that the level of specialization of the digestive tract, energy-demanding processes and intestine length would affect the retention time of bats. Fluorescence-marked mealworms Tenebrio molitor ...