Bats of Lithuania: distribution, status and protection

The Lithuanian bat fauna includes 14 species. Myotis daubentoni, Pipistrellus nathusii, Plecotus auritus and Eptesicus serotinus are the most abundant and widespread species, although recently P. auritus has disappeared from some hibernacula. There are still abundant populations of Myotis nattereri, Myotis brandti and Barbastella barbastellus in hibernacula, while their status in summer is unknown. Myotis dasycneme is probably very rare and endangered. The status of Myotis mystacinus and Nyctalus leisleri is not clear, but they are most likely very rare because very few specimens have been found. So far little is known about status of Nyctalus noctula, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Eptesicus nilssoni and Vespertilio murinus because these species are common only during autumn bat migration along the Baltic Sea coast. Two other species, Myotis bechsteini and Rhinolophus hipposideros, have been rejected from the list of bats of Lithuania, because old references to records of these species were not reliable. From what is currently known it seems that: (i) the northern limits of distribution of B. barbastellus and E. serotinus reach the middle of Lithuania between 55°N and 56°N, which may also be the southern limit of abundance of E. nilssoni; (ii) the wintering site with the largest numbers of bats in Lithuania is the vaults of Kaunas fortress, where every year eight species are found hibernating in numbers estimated as follows: M. daubentoni 400–500, M. nattereri 200–300, M. brandti 80–100, B.barbastellus 200–300, P. auritus 40–60, M. dasycneme 15–20 and a few E. serotinus and E. nilssoni. In Lithuania nine bat species have been protected by law since 1991, as species included in the Red Data Book. Also 11 bat reserves have been designated in Kaunas fortress to protect the most important hibernation sites in Lithuania.     

Metabarcoding for the parallel identification of several hundred predators and their prey: Application to bat species diet analysis

Assessing diet variability is of main importance to better understand the biology of bats and design conservation strategies. Although the advent of metabarcoding has facilitated such analyses, this approach does not come without challenges. Biases may occur throughout the whole experiment, from fieldwork to biostatistics, resulting in the detection of false negatives, false positives or low taxonomic resolution. We detail a rigorous metabarcoding approach based on a short COI minibarcode and two‐step PCR protocol enabling the “all at once” taxonomic identification of bats and their arthropod prey for several hundreds of samples. Our study includes faecal pellets collected in France from 357 bats representing 16 species, as well as insect mock communities that mimic bat meals of known composition, negative and positive controls. All samples were analysed using three replicates. We compare the efficiency of DNA extraction methods, and we evaluate the effectiveness of our protocol using identification success, taxonomic resolution, sensitivity and amplification biases. Our parallel identification strategy of predators and prey reduces the risk of mis‐assigning prey to wrong predators and decreases the number of molecular steps. Controls and replicates enable to filter the data and limit the risk of false positives, hence guaranteeing high confidence results for both prey occurrence and bat species identification. We validate 551 COI variants from arthropod including 18 orders, 117 family, 282 genus and 290 species. Our method therefore provides a rapid, resolutive and cost‐effective screening tool for addressing evolutionary ecological issues or developing “chirosurveillance” and conservation strategies.     

Bedbugs Evolved before Their Bat Hosts and Did Not Co-speciate with Ancient Humans

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皮氏菊头蝠(Rhinolophus pearsoni)的栖息生态特征

皮氏菊头蝠(Rhinolophus pearsoni)是我国南方典型的洞栖食虫性蝙蝠,具有重要的生态意义。近年于湘西州及张家界市的25个溶洞中共记录到该蝠450只次,对其栖息生态特征(空间分布、姿势、体温、栖点温度和栖点安全性等)进行了较为系统的观测。结果表明:该蝠的栖点主要集中分布于离洞口440 m之内的洞段(占99.3%),栖点高度通常介于2—10 m之间(84%),主要采取双足倒挂的姿势栖息于洞顶壁或侧壁,但单足倒挂的栖息姿势也较为常见(36.2%)。体温介于10.7—25.2℃,体温总是稍高于栖点温度,但两者之间无显著性差异(P0.05),且两者呈线性正相关。约64%的栖点"安全性高",而"安全性低"和"安全性中"的栖点分别占17.6%和18.4%。减少对洞穴的人为干扰是保护该物种的有效途径。     

菲菊头蝠回声定位声波频率的性二态有利于性别识别

许多动物的叫声频率呈现性二态现象。蝙蝠夜间活动,主要利用声音信号导航空间、追踪猎物、传递交流信息。本研究选择成体菲菊头蝠作为研究对象,检验回声定位声波频率性二态是否有利于性别识别。研究发现,菲菊头蝠回声定位声波频率参数具有显著性别差异。播放白噪音、雄性回声定位声波及雌性回声定位声波期间,实验个体的反应叫声数量依次递减。播放白噪音、雌性回声定位声波及雄性回声定位声波后,实验个体的反应叫声数量依次递增。白噪音诱导反应叫声强度高于回声定位声波诱导反应叫声强度。研究结果表明,菲菊头蝠回声定位声波的频率参数编码发声者性别信息,有利于种群内部的性别识别。本研究暗示,回声定位声波可能在蝙蝠配偶选择中扮演一定作用。     

海南岛翼手目物种多样性现状与分布预测

海南岛位于我国南部, 地处热带北缘, 其独特的岛屿气候环境孕育了丰富的生物资源, 为我国生物多样性热点地区之一。为探究岛内的翼手目物种多样性状况, 本研究组使用雾网、蝙蝠竖琴网等工具, 于2002年至2016年先后对海南岛进行了15次翼手目多样性调查, 并根据其外形与头骨特征及系统发育学方法进行标本鉴定。共获取了1,025号标本, 隶属5科15属31种, 其中2016年12月21日在海南琼中捕获的艾氏管鼻蝠(Murina eleryi)为海南岛蝙蝠分布新记录。结合前人调查及发表结果统计, 岛内共有翼手类8科20属41种。同时基于本调查采集位点和前人调查位置信息(共计363个位点), 结合WorldClim 32种气候数据, 运用最大熵模型(MaxEnt)对海南岛翼手目物种的分布进行预测, 结果显示五指山、吊罗山、鹦哥岭、尖峰岭及海口火山口国家地质公园等地为翼手目物种多样性较丰富的区域, 而三亚、澄迈、屯昌、临高、琼海等地翼手目物种多样性较低。本研究结果为海南岛翼手目资源分布及多样性状况提供了基础资料, 也为岛内后续开展翼手目资源保护管理、蝙蝠疾病防控等提供了重要的参考依据。     

湖南长沙发现霍氏鼠耳蝠

2021年8月分别在湖南省长沙市天心区大托站立交桥底和昭华湘江大桥底捕获2只鼠耳蝠（2♂,标本号211521和211540）,经鉴定为霍氏鼠耳蝠（Myotis horsfieldii）,为湖南省蝙蝠分布新记录物种。本次捕获标本体型中等偏小,前臂长分别为36.1 mm（211521）和33.1 mm（211540）,头体长为44.0 mm和41.2 mm,后足长（10.5 mm和10.4 mm）超过胫骨长（16.4 mm和16.2 mm）的一半,耳屏长（5.1 mm和3.8 mm）不及耳长（12.5 mm和10.0 mm）的一半;头骨狭长,颅全长15.5 mm和15.0 mm,脑颅宽7.8 mm和7.5 mm,颅骨纤弱,额骨处有明显倾斜,脑颅高于上颌骨,颧弓较细。与来自泰国和印度尼西亚的霍氏鼠耳蝠标本相比,前臂长、头体长和尾长测量数据偏小,但头骨测量数据接近。基于Cyt b基因序列的系统发育分析表明,此次捕获的鼠耳蝠标本与霍氏鼠耳蝠聚类在一起,与来自香港的霍氏鼠耳蝠样本遗传距离仅为0.9%,故确定该物种为霍氏鼠耳蝠。标本保存于广东省科学院动物研究所。     

Anatomical diversification of a skeletal novelty in bat feet

Neomorphic, membrane‐associated skeletal rods are found in disparate vertebrate lineages, but their evolution is poorly understood. Here we show that one of these elements—the calcar of bats (Chiroptera)—is a skeletal novelty that has anatomically diversified. Comparisons of evolutionary models of calcar length and corresponding disparity‐through‐time analyses indicate that the calcar diversified early in the evolutionary history of Chiroptera, as bats phylogenetically diversified after evolving the capacity for flight. This interspecific variation in calcar length and its relative proportion to tibia and forearm length is of functional relevance to flight‐related behaviors. We also find that the calcar varies in its tissue composition among bats, which might affect its response to mechanical loading. We confirm the presence of a synovial joint at the articulation between the calcar and the calcaneus in some species, which suggests the calcar has a kinematic functional role. Collectively, this functionally relevant variation suggests that adaptive advantages provided by the calcar led to its anatomical diversification. Our results demonstrate that novel skeletal additions can become integrated into vertebrate body plans and subsequently evolve into a variety of forms, potentially impacting clade diversification by expanding the available morphological space into which organisms can evolve.     

Will reduced host connectivity curb the spread of a devastating epidemic?

The white‐nose syndrome (WNS), caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is threatening the cave‐dwelling bat fauna of North America by killing individuals by the thousands in hibernacula each winter since its appearance in New York State less than ten years ago. Epidemiological models predict that WNS will reach the western coast of the USA by 2035, potentially eliminating most populations of susceptible bat species in its path (Frick et al. 2015; O'Regan et al. 2015). These models were built and validated using distributional data from the early years of the epidemic, which spread throughout eastern North America following a route driven by cave density and winter severity (Maher et al. 2012). In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Wilder et al. (2015) refine these findings by showing that connectivity among host populations, as assessed by population genetic markers, is crucial in determining the spread of the pathogen. Because host connectivity is much reduced in the hitherto disease free western half of North America, Wilder et al. make the reassuring prediction that the disease will spread more slowly west of the Great Plains.     

Anticipating white‐nose syndrome in the Southern Hemisphere: Widespread conditions favourable to Pseudogymnoascus destructans pose a serious risk to Australia's bat fauna

There is a serious concern that white‐nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease causing severe population declines in North American bats, could soon threaten bats on the Australian continent. Despite an ‘almost certain' risk of incursion within the next ten years, and high virulence in naïve bat populations, we remain uncertain about the vulnerability of Australian bats to WNS. In this study, we intersected occurrences for the 27 cave roosting bat species in Australia with interpolated data on mean annual surface temperature, which provides a proxy for thermal conditions within a cave and hence its suitability for growth by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans. Our analysis identifies favourable roost thermal conditions within 30–100% of the ranges of eight bat species across south‐eastern Australia, including for seven species already listed as threatened with extinction. These results demonstrate the potential for widespread exposure to P. destructans and suggest that WNS could pose a serious risk to the conservation of Australia's bat fauna. The impacts of exposure to P. destructans will depend, however, on the sensitivity of bats to developing WNS, and a more comprehensive vulnerability assessment is currently prevented by a lack of information on the hibernation biology of Australian bats. Thus, given the clear potential for widespread exposure of Australia's bats to P. destructans demonstrated by our study, two specific policy actions seem justified: (i) urgent implementation of border controls that identify and decontaminate cave‐associated fomites and (ii) dedicated funding to enable research on key aspects of bat winter behaviour and hibernation physiology. Further, as accidental translocation of this fungus could also pose a risk to other naïve bat faunas in cooler regions of southern Africa and South America, we argue that a proactive, globally coordinated approach is required to understand and mitigate the potential impacts of WNS spreading to Southern Hemisphere bats.