Testing hypotheses of bat baculum function with 3D models derived from microCT ...

• Main Authors: Herdina, Anna Nele, Kelly, Diane A., Jahelková, Helena, Lina, Peter H. C., Horáček, Ivan, Metscher, Brian D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2015
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Nyctalus noctula; Pipistrellus nathusii; Pipistrellus pipistrellus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13456557; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13456557

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) The baculum (os penis) has been extensively studied as a taxon-specific character in bats and other mammals but its mechanical function is still unclear. There is a wide consensus in the literature that the baculum is probably a sexually selected character. Using a novel approach combining postmortem manipulation and threedimensional (3D) imaging, we tested two functional hypotheses in the common noctule bat Nyctalus noctula, the common pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus, and Nathusius' pipistrelle Pipistrellus nathusii: (i) whether the baculum can protect the distal urethra and urethral opening from compression during erection and copulation; and (ii) whether the baculum and corpora cavernosa form a functional unit to support both the penile shaft and the more distal glans tip. In freshly dead or frozen and thawed bats, we compared flaccid penises with artificially 'erect' penises that were inflated with 10% formalin. Penises were stained with alcoholic ...