Concentration of carotenoids, retinol and alpha-tocopherol in plasma of six microchiroptera species

To adequately feed species in captivity it is necessary to know their nutritional habits and their natural availability of specific nutrients. Such essential nutrients are vitamin A, vitamin E and selected carotenoids as vitamin-A-precursors. Because their blood plasma concentration are valid biomarkers of nutritional status of dietary intake, we determined the concentrations of carotenoids, retinol and alpha-tocopherol by HPLC as well as the transport proteins for retinol, the retinol-binding protein (RBP) and transthyretin (TTR) immunologically in the plasma of six species of microchiroptera from free-ranging animals and compared it in one species (Carollia perspicillata) to a group held in captivity. Plasma concentrations of the investigated components were generally much lower compared to most other mammals. Within the bats, differences were observed for all components. As in other species retinol, RBP and TTR were present but no retinyl esters could be detected. Plasma of the insectivorous bat species Molossus molossus contained carotenoids. Within the group of carotenoids, beta-carotene was dominant and only traces of lutein were present. Phyllostomus hastatus revealed the highest alpha-tocopherol concentration. No differences in the plasma content of the investigated compounds were found between a group of Carollia perspicillata kept in captivity for 20 years and free-ranging individuals from a population in Central America. No sex related differences were obvious. In conclusion, nutritional biomarkers in bats were highly variable due to dietary and possible species-specific differences.     

Spermatogenesis in the non-scrotal bat-Rhinopoma kinneari Wroughton (microchiroptera: mammalia)

Spermatogenesis in the non-scrotal, insectivorous microchiropteran, Rhinopoma kinneari Wroughton, is a cyclic phenomenon. It comprises (i) eleven cell associations, and (ii) 16 evolutive steps in spermiogenesis. In the seminiferous epithelium, spermatogonia of the A, intermediate (In), and B type are characteristically present. Leptotene, pachytene and diakinesis stages were easily discerned in dividing spermatocytes. During the 16-step spermiogenesis, the acrosomic system develops through the Golgi, cap, acrosome and maturation phases. The relative frequency of various cell associations differs markedly and is significantly at variance with other mammalian species. Fully formed spermatozoa are dimorphic with conical or blunt heads.     

Further examination of the basicranial anatomy of the megachiroptera: a reply to A.J. King.

Four basicranial characters supporting a single origin of megachiropterans and microchiropterans have been identified by Wible and Novacek. King was not able to find two of these characters in specimens of the megachiropteran Pteropus and concluded that these characters be rejected in analyses of chiropteran phylogeny. To address King's claims, the two characters in question (regarding the tegmen tympani and ramus inferior of the stapedial artery) are documented here for Pteropus. The discrepancies between this report and King's appear to result from different criteria for identifying the tegmen tympani. Employed here are the criteria generally accepted by students of the mammalian chondrocranium.     

Relationships between renal morphology and diet in 26 species of new world bats (suborder microchiroptera)

The renal morphology of 24 species of mormoopid and phyllostomid bats feeding on six different diets was examined to test evolutionary changes in several structural traits presumably led by dietary shifts from ancestral insectivorous diets. The kidneys of a fish-eating vespertilionid and an insect-eating emballonurid were also examined but not included in the phylogenetic comparison. The length, width, and breadth of the kidneys were used to calculate relative medullary thickness (RMT). Tissues were processed for stereological analysis, and the volumes of the kidney, nephron components, and vasculature were determined. RMT did not correlate with body mass in either animal-eating or plant-eating phyllostomid and mormoopid bats. The shift from insectivory to frugivory and nectarivory was accompanied by a reduction in RMT, a reduction in the percent of renal medulla, and an increase in the percent of renal cortex. No changes in these traits were observed in bats that shifted to carnivorous, omnivorous or sanguinivorous habits. No changes were observed in renal vasculature, in the percentage of cortical and medullary nephron components or of capillaries surrounding the nephrons in any feeding group. Vespertilionid and emballonurid species had similar values in all traits examined as compared to insectivorous phyllostomids and mormoopids. Our data suggest that diet does not influence a single area of the nephron, but rather the entire nephron such that the relative amounts of renal cortex and medulla are affected.     

The Mechanics of the Grass Flower: The Extension of the Staminal Filaments and the Lodicules of Maize

In this paper on the flower mechanics of the grasses, the morphological and cytological processes leading to flower opening and anther exsertion are studied.At anthesis synchronous cell extension in both the lodicules and the filaments open the flower and exsert the anthers, respectively. In the lodicules all the cells extend, except the vascular tissues. In the filaments extension is limited to the epidermis and one or two subepidermal cell layers, whereas the more centrally located parenchyma and the vascular tissues are disrupted. Ultrastructural aspects of the rapid vacuolations, necessary for these extensions, are studied using comparisons between TEM and high-resolution SEM.     

The morphological relationships of the Florideae and the Ascomycetes

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