Single and group organizations of individual animals in the community of bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) hibernating in artificial caves of the Samarskaya Luka

The spatial arrangement of individual bats of seven species and their tendency to form groups were studied in artificial caves of the Samarskaya Luka during five winter periods (1999 and 2003–2006). It was demonstrated that formation of dense groups did not depend on the hibernating population size or density and was related to the biological characteristics of the species. Most Myotis brandtii and M. dasycneme (60–80% of the populations) wintered in groups. M. mystacinus, M. daubentonii, Plecotus auritus, M. nattereri, and Eptesicus nilssonii usually wintered singly (87% of the animals). In M. brandtii and M. dasycneme, as many as 78% of individual animals were in conspecific groups, whereas this proportion for the other species was no higher than 11%. All pairs of species exhibited negative assortativeness, which indicated a higher preference of spending winter in conspecific groups than in groups containing representatives of other species. Estimation of the ratios between groups containing animals of one and several species showed that conspecific groups were prevailing in M. brandtii and M. dasycneme, whereas all other species usually formed mixed groups.     

Species structure and dynamics of bat communities (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) hibernating in artificial caves of Samara Luka

Long-term data on the composition and absolute and relative abundance of eight bat species hibernating in artificial caves of Samara Luka are considered. About 13 000 hibernating individuals are annually accounted there. The relative abundance of the species decreased in the following order: Myotis brandtii (35%), Plecotus auritus (20%), M. daubentonii (13%), M. mystacinus (13%), Eptesicus nilssonii (8%), M. dasycneme (8%), and M. nattereri (2%). Singular E. serotinus were recorded not every year. The number of hibernating animals in pits was proportional to their size and the number of shelters. Bats used previously chosen shelters and were never found in adjacent caves. The maximum species diversity (H’) and evenness (E) were observed in bat communities in medium-sized caves. One of the main factors of increasing abundance of hibernating bats in abandoned pits is their gradual colonization by the animals.     

Roosting associations of flat-headed bats, Tylonycteris species (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Malaysia

Roosting associations of Tylonycteris pachypus and T. robustula were studied in West Malaysia. Both species roosted within the internodes of one species of bamboo, but were only once found together at roost. Roosting groups, which formed before entry in the morning, were not limited in size by the dimensions of the roost site. In both species the sexes exhibited different roosting behaviour, the males tending to be solitary and the females gregarious. Seasonal variations in associations occurred correlated with the reproductive cycle. Banding demonstrated that the populations were highly mobile, that the bats frequently changed roost sites, and that the roosting associations were of an ephemeral nature.     

Fecundity of Thominx neopulchra (Nematoda:Capillariidae) from bats of the genus Myotis (Chiroptera:Vespertilionidae)

Variability of absolute fecundity of nematode Thominx neopulchra from three species of genus Myotis was studies on the territory Zhiguli State Reserve in 2007, 2008. Significant differences in the fecundity of the nematode females depending on host species and sex, size of the parasite, number of the helminthes in a given host, and season of year were revealed.     

Gastrointestinal helminths of pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus/Pipistrellus pygmaeus) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) of England

Although bats are one of the most successful and diverse of mammalian orders, studies that focus upon bat endoparasites are limited. To further knowledge of bat parasitology, pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus) were acquired from across the Greater Manchester and Lancashire region of England and examined for gastrointestinal helminths using morphological and molecular analyses. Sixty-eight of 90 adult/juvenile bats (76% prevalence) were infected with at least 1 species of helminth and mean helminth abundance was 48·2 (+/-7·0). All helminths were digenean trematodes and the following species were identified in 51 P. pipistrellus specimens (prevalence in parentheses): Lecithodendrium linstowi (80·4%), L. spathulatum (19·6%), Prosthodendrium sp. (35·3%), Plagiorchis koreanus (29·4%) and Pycnoporus heteroporus (9·8%). Statistical analyses, incorporating multifactorial models, showed that male bats exhibited a significantly more aggregated helminth distribution and lower abundance than females. Positive associations were observed between L. linstowi and L. spathulatum, Prosthodendrium sp. and P. heteroporus and between L. spathulatum and P. koreanus. A revised phylogeny of bat-associated Lecithodendriidae, incorporating novel L. spathulatum and Prosthodendrium sp. 28S rRNA sequences, separated the controversial clade formed by L. linstowi and P. hurkovaae. Further studies are likely to assist the understanding of bat-parasite/pathogen relationships, helminth infracommunity structures and phylogenetics.     

Phylogeography of the large Myotis bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Europe,Asia Minor,and Transcaucasia

The large Myotis complex in continental Europe, Asia Minor, and Transcaucasia comprises two sibling bat species, the greater mouse‐eared bat, Myotis myotis, and the lesser mouse‐eared bat, Myotis blythii, also referred to as Myotis oxygnathus. Here, we investigate the phylogeography of these bats using two mitochondrial markers: the second hypervariable domain of the control region (HVII) and a fragment of the cytochrome b gene (cyt b). The HVII haplotypes formed six distinct haplogroups associated with different geographical regions. Most of the European HVII haplotypes were exclusive to M. myotis, whereas the majority of HVII haplotypes found in Asia Minor were exclusive to M. blythii/M. oxygnathus. The phylogenetic reconstruction based on the concatenated cyt b and HVII fragments recovered two major lineages. The first lineage comprised samples from Europe (western lineage), and the second lineage included samples from Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Crimea, Western Ukraine, Thrace, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe (eastern lineage). The mitochondrial lineage of M. blythii, reported from Kyrgyzstan, was not present in Asia Minor and Transcaucasia. Therefore, we consider the possibility that the M. blythii/M. oxygnathus found in Europe, Asia Minor, and Transcaucasia are not recent descendants of the Central Asian M. blythii. Instead, we suggest that M. blythii/M. oxygnathus and M. myotis diverged through allopatric speciation in Asia Minor and Europe, and that they are represented by the eastern and western mitochondrial lineages. We also examine an alternative hypothesis: that the large Myotis complex consists of more than two species that diverged independently in Asia Minor and Europe through ecological speciation. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, ??, ??–??.     

Helminthofauna of the common shrew Sorex araneus L. (Soricidae) from Samarskaya Luka

Ecological analysis of the helminthofauna of common shrew Sorex araneus L. from Samarskaya Luka (Samara Region) has been carried out. Twenty-three helminth species are found including 3 species of trematodes, 8 cestodes, 10 nematodes, and 2 acanthocephales. Dependence of the structure of helminthofauna on the host age is revealed.     

Diversity and community structure of bats (Chiroptera) in the Centre Region of Cameroon

In this survey, we investigated the diversity and community structure of bats in the Centre Region of Cameroon with respect to their distribution in the different vegetation zones of the region. We mist-netted bats monthly from January 2016 to June 2017 for five nonconsecutive nights per month. Thirty-nine sites were surveyed: 24 in traditional farms, nine in the savannah and six in the forests. A total of 668 bats were captured during 81 nights of capture, covering seven families, 21 genera and 36 species. This included 26 species in traditional farms, 13 species in savannah and 11 species in the forest. Micropteropus pusillus was the most abundant species (30.7%) recorded, followed by Hipposideros ruber (24.9%). The sample efficiency was estimated at 72.1% with fitted species accumulation curves not reaching asymptotes for the three habitat types, suggesting that the survey did not record all the bats present. There was an indication of general increased in abundance of bats during the dry and rainy seasons but it is not significant (Mann–Whitney U: 783.5, p = .195). The rarity index was highest in traditional farms (0.44), followed by savannah (0.38) and then forest (0.33). This preliminary survey provides baseline data on the distribution of bats in the different vegetation types in the Centre Region of Cameroon.     

Ecology of nutrition and differentiation of the trophic niches of bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in floodplain ecosystems of the Samara Bend

A complex analysis of the food range of 15 bat species inhabiting floodplain ecosystems of the Samara Bend has been performed. It is shown that, in bats, an important component of the structuring of their communities is the division of food resources. The guild structure and position of species in the trophic space are described. Seven food guilds consisting of nonspecialized and specialized species are distinguished. It is noted that most species are characterized by a wide overlapping of their trophic niches, which may be a consequence of their weak competition in an environment that is rich in food resources.     

Phylogeny and systematics of Old World serotine bats (genus Eptesicus,Vespertilionidae, Chiroptera): an integrative approach

Integrative taxonomy aims to document biodiversity by incorporating all useful characters to increase confidence in hypotheses about phylogenetic relationships. In this study, we combine data obtained independently from morphology, two maternally inherited mtDNA genes and two biparentally inherited nuDNA genes to make phylogenetic and taxonomic hypotheses about the Palaearctic members of the bat genus Eptesicus (Vespertilionidae). This genus is distributed worldwide (except for Antarctica) and is highly diversified, presenting one of the most entangled taxonomic puzzles among all mammals. Our results support restoring the genus Rhyneptesicus and separating E. isabellinus and E. pachyomus from E. serotinus and E. ognevi and E. anatolicus from E. bottae. Differences in the phylogenetic hypotheses from mtDNA and nuDNA data suggest the occurrence within E. serotinus of evolutionary processes such as mtDNA capture and secondary contacts between partially differentiated ecomorphs. These two evolutionary processes deserve more in‐depth studies within the group.     

Approaches to the identification of ectoparasite complexes of bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae,Miniopteridae, Rhinolophidae,Molossidae) in the Palaearctic

The first attempt at identifying the faunal complexes of ectoparasites of Palaearctic bats is presented. Several approaches are used to estimate the distribution and dynamics of parasitocenoses of different host taxa in both latitudinal and meridional directions. Our analysis shows that the arid temperate zone is characterized by the highest number of species and the greatest taxonomic richness of bat ectoparasites in the Palaearctic. The results obtained reflect the phylogeography of the Palaearctic bat families and tribes.     

Variability of the dimensional structure in the hemipopulation of Thominx neopulchra (Nematoda: Capillariidae) females from bats of the genus myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)

Variability of the dimensional structure in the hemipopulation Thominx neopulchra females from 3 species of the genus Myotis bats in the Zhiguli State Reserve was examined. The size of T. neopulchra from different bat species varied within the limits constituting 10.17-13.41 mm. It was demonstrated that the variability of the dimensional structure in the subpopulation group T. neopulchra from Daubenton's bats did not depend on the number of parasites in the host and the season and is probably determined by the genetic polymorphism of the parasite population.     

Biochemical systematics of the Savi's bat (Hypsugo savii) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)

In order to assess the controversial systematic position of the Savi's bat (Hypsugo savii), 43 ves-pertilionid bats belonging to 10 species were analyzed by mean of isozyme electrophoresis. The results were interpreted in two ways: first, we found that the amount of genetic differentiation between Hypsugo and the true Pipistrellus (D # 0.719) is of the same magnitude as the mean distance which separates the other pipistrelloid genera (D = 0.738). Secondly, the cladogram based on these biochemical results confirms the splitting of these “pipistrelles”, as Hypsugo is more closely related to Vespertilio than to any other palearctic genus. The other species analyzed in this study group themselves in a different clade, including Pipistrellus, Eptesicus and Nyctalus. This phylogenetic interpretation presents a testable hypothesis, which could be confirmed by an analysis of other loci or other allied species.