Frequent or scarce? Damage to flight–enabling body parts in bats (Chiroptera) ...

• Main Authors: Cichocki, Jan, Warchałowski, Marcin, Ważna, Agnieszka, Gottfried, Iwona, Bator–Kocoł, Anna, Gottfried, Tomasz, Kościelska, Adrianna, Bojarski, Jacek, Pietraszko–Warchałowska, Monika, Gabryś, Grzegorz, Torre, Ignasi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2019
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Barbastella barbastellus; Myotis nattereri; Natterer's bat
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13485572; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13485572

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Bat wings are characterized by high endurance, and these mammals have developed a number of adaptations that protect them from falling into obstacles and potential injuries. However, in bat populations, there are individuals with visible fresh or healed injuries to the flight–enabling body parts. The aim of this research was to determine the differences in the occurrence of wing membrane damages among species of bats that differ in ecology and behavior. The study was conducted in southern and western Poland in the years 2000–2016 and included 3,525 individuals of six species: lesser horseshoe bat Rhinolopus hipposideros, Daubenton's bat Myotis daubentonii, Natterer's bat Myotis nattereri, greater mouse–eared bat Myotis myotis, western barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus, and brown long–eared bat Plecotus auritus. In all, 2.9% of the bats studied showed damage to the flight–enabling body parts. Natterer's bat was the species with the highest number of ...