Histiotus
Histitus macrotus
Small big-eared brown bat (Histiotus montanus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Tribe: Eptesicini
Genus: Histiotus
Gervais, 1856
Type species
Plecotus velatus
Species

Histiotus alienus
Histiotus cadenai
Histiotus colombiae
Histiotus diaphanopterus
Histiotus humboldti
Histiotus laephotis
Histiotus macrotus
Histiotus magellanicus
Histiotus mochica
Histiotus montanus
Histiotus velatus

Histiotus (meaning "sail ears") is a genus of South American vesper bats[1] with species that include:[2]

In Paraguay, Histiotus bats have mainly been collected at human dwellings or around domestic animals, due to the significant increase in human activity in the Paraguayan Chaco over the last 20 years.[3]

Habitat

Histiotus is found in the tropical and temperate zones in South America. Their natural habitat ranges from areas with rocky mountains, to woods in Paraguay, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.[4]

Behavior

Echolocation and feeding

Histiotus are aerial feeders and use echolocation to catch prey. They can create echolocation calls dominated by frequencies below 20 kHz in order to catch prey. Histiotus diet consists of insects; H. montanus mainly eats butterflies and flies, H. macrotus eats flies, and H. velatus eat moths.[5]

Social systems

Most of the species are colonial and some are considered individual. Individual systems are considered for bats that interact as one or less than ten bats.[4] Females of most temperate zone bats form maternity colonies during summer to communally raise pups. These colonies allow individuals to reduce heat loss by forming a cluster. This is called social thermoregulation. (For more on metabolism go to: Metabolism).[6]

Flying adaptations

Flight performance is determined by wing shape and ecological aspects such as foraging behavior (the way they search for food) and habitat selection. Research showed that H. montanus and H. macrotus have high maneuverability and low speed, which corresponds to bats that inhabit wooded areas. The high maneuverability or ability to quickly alter flight direction and speed is important for bats to successfully capture prey and avoid predators.

Respiratory and cardiovascular adaptations

Adaptation for flight involves many systems, and specifically cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Bats are considered as mammals adapted to extreme environments where oxygen management is crucial. Respiratory and cardiovascular systems undergo changes that allow the organism to optimize the acquisition and delivery of oxygen to tissues to be able to survive this extreme way of life. Research done on H.macrotus and H.montanus shows that they have the same respiratory strategy as other bats: "narrow-based high-keyed strategy." This strategy includes:

  1. larger heart and cardiac output
  2. high hematocrit, high hemoglobin concentration and high blood oxygen transport capacity and
  3. optimization of respiratory structural parameters. In other words, these bats are able to make the most effective use of their respiratory structure.[7]

Metabolism

For bats, energy demands are particularly high during pregnancy or lactation. One way many bats are able to save energy is through the use of torpor, which is a controlled, substantial drop in metabolic rate and body temperature (metabolism). In addition to hibernation (prolonged torpor) during winter, temperate zone bats, such as Histiotus, often become torpid during periods of cold weather in summer (daily torpor) to save energy. By reducing metabolic rate, torpor prolongs gestation length and impairs lactation. This results in late births and slow juvenile growth rates. This reduces the probability for juveniles to survive their first winter, because not enough time has passed to store proper amounts of fat prior to hibernation. This is why females of most temperate zone bats, such as Histiotus, form maternity colonies during summer to communally raise pups. These colonies allow individuals to reduce heat loss by forming a cluster and therefore by their behavior they are able to improve insulation and this results in the conservation of energy.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Simmons, Nancy B. (2005), "Chiroptera", in Wilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M. (eds.), Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.), Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 312–529, ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0, retrieved 2 October 2009
  2. ↑ Mammal Diversity Database (2021-08-10), Mammal Diversity Database, doi:10.5281/zenodo.5175993, retrieved 2021-09-17
  3. ↑ Lopez-Gonzalez, Celia (January 2004). "Ecological zoogeography of the bats of Paraguay". Journal of Biogeography. 31 (1): 33–45. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2004.00940.x. S2CID 83482459.
  4. 1 2 Canals, Mauricio; Grossi, Bruno; Iriarte-Diaz, Jose; Veloso, Claudio (29 March 2013). "Biomechanical and ecological relationships of wing morphology of eight Chilean bats". Revista Chilena de Historia Natural. 78 (2): 215–227.
  5. ↑ Fenton, M. Brock; Whitaker Jr, John O; Vonhof, Maarten J; Waterman, Jane M; Pedro, Wagner A; Aguiar, Ludmilla M.S; Baumgarten, Júlio E; Bouchard, Sylvie; Faria, Deborah M; Portfors, Christine V; Rautenbach, Naas I.L; Scully, William; Zortea, Marlon (1999). "The diet of bats from Southeastern Brazil: the relation to echolocation and foraging behaviour". Revista Brasileira de Zoologia. 16 (4): 1081–1085. doi:10.1590/S0101-81751999000400017. hdl:11449/28330.
  6. 1 2 Pretzlaff, Iris; Kerth, Gerald; Dausmann, Kathrin H. (April 2010). "Communally breeding bats use physiological and behavioural adjustments to optimise daily energy expenditure". Naturwissenschaften. 97 (4): 353–363. Bibcode:2010NW.....97..353P. doi:10.1007/s00114-010-0647-1. PMC 2841750. PMID 20143039.
  7. ↑ Canals, M.; Atala, C; Olivares, R; Guajardo, F; Figueroa, DP; Sabat, P; Rosenmann, M (15 October 2005). "Functional and structural optimization of the respiratory system of the bat Tadarida brasiliensis (Chiroptera, Molossidae): does airway geometry matter?". Journal of Experimental Biology. 208 (20): 3987–3995. doi:10.1242/jeb.01817. PMID 16215224.
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