Navigation and Orientation of Long-Distance Migratory Bats

• Main Author: Lindecke, Oliver
• Other Authors: male, Voigt, Christian C., Hofer, Heribert
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Bats; Migration; Navigation; Orientation; Chiroptera; Animal Behaviour; Senses; ddc:599; Pipistrellus nathusii
• Online Access: https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/29374; https://doi.org/10.17169/refubium-29120; https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:188-refubium-29374-7

Animal life is largely characterized by movement and high levels of individual mobility. However, an endogenous system for egocentric and allocentric orientation is crucial if any movement is supposed to be goal-directed. Any goal can be reached by the help of more or less advanced navigational capacities. As part of this process, environmental cues are integrated by the available sensory organs. However, the more sensory organs are integrated, the more complex navigation will be due to the weighing of cues. Hierarchies of cues may be established for efficient navigation. Wild mammal navigation research is still in its infancy compared to its avian counterpart, in particular when it comes to long-range navigation and movements of long distances. Animal migration belongs to one of the most complex phenomena, we can observe in nature. To date, observation of long-distance moving mammal migrants is still technically limited, in particular if experimental manipulation of the moving individual is envisioned. Therefore, the navigational capacities and orientation mechanisms of wild species are virtually unknown. A promising example however, are bats. For non-migratory bat species, evidence of a magnetic sense has been provided (Holland et al. 2006, 2008). Further, we know that the calibration of a nocturnal compass system in bats happens at dusk. In this work I address the question of whether migratory bats have the potential for a mammalian model in navigation research. Assuming that non-migratory and migratory bats do not differ significantly in their navigational systems, two further questions can be deduced: Which directional reference or cue calibrates the compass system of bats at dusk? And further: Do migratory bats possess a magnetic sense which they could use for orientation and navigation? Among the migratory species, the Nathusius’ bat, Pipistrellus nathusii (Keyserling und Blasius, 1839), and its sister species the Soprano pipistrelle, Pipistrellus pygmaeus (Leach, 1825), make ideal models for experimental ...