Thermal energetics and torpor in the common pipistrelle bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Vespertilionidae: Mammalia) ...

• Main Authors: Genoud, Michel, Christe, Philippe
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2011
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Pipistrellus pipistrellus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13466700; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13466700

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Rate of metabolism and body temperature were studied between − 6 °C and 38 °C in the common pipistrelle bat Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Vespertilionidae), a European species lying close to the lower end of the mammalian size range (body mass 4.9 ± 0.8 g, N = 28). Individuals maintained only occasionally a normothermic body temperature averaging 35.4 ± 1.1 °C (N = 4) and often showed torpor during metabolic runs. The thermoneutral zone was found above 33 °C, and basal rate of metabolism averaged 7.6 ± 0.8 mL O2 h−1 (N = 28), which is 69% of the value predicted on the basis of body mass. Minimal wet thermal conductance was 161% of the expected value. During torpor, the rate of metabolism was related exponentially to body temperature with a Q10 value of 2.57. Torpid bats showed intermittent ventilation, with the frequency of ventilatory cycles increasing exponentially with body temperature. Basal rate of metabolism (BMR) varied significantly with season and body ...