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Complex reproductive and migratory patterns in the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis) (Molossidae)

  • Alfonso Balmori EMAIL logo and Alfonso Balmori-de la Puente
Published/Copyright: October 11, 2024
Mammalia
From the journal Mammalia Volume 89 Issue 1

Abstract

Reproductive strategies vary widely among bats, even within the same species. The molossid Tadarida teniotis has an intermediate latitudinal distribution between tropical bats and those of temperate zones. There are still some uncertainties about its migratory behaviour and reproductive mode that are not yet fully understood. Some authors believe that this species breeds in spring and is sedentary, while others propose a bimodal breeding cycle with occasional or partial migration. In this paper, these contradictory approaches are exposed, providing more data to help solving this controversy. The results of the species monitoring for several years verified the existence of harems in spring and summer-autumn in at least one location of its range (Valladolid, central Spain). In both periods and during several months, males were observed performing patrols and displaying aggressive behaviour towards male intruders. This may have been facilitated by the peaks in migratory moth abundance. For the late parturitions occurring in autumn/winter and in case of absence of deferred reproduction mechanisms, a sex-biased migration is necessary for, at least, the females who got pregnant during the autumn mating. Thus, the species appears to show greater reproductive and migratory complexity than previously thought.

Keywords: Chiroptera; biological cycle; moths; partial migration; sex-biased migration
Corresponding author: Alfonso Balmori, Environmental Department of Castilla y León, Valladolid, Spain, E-mail:
Present address: Alfonso Balmori-de la Puente, Zoonotic Diseases and One Health GIR, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

Acknowledgments

Professor Paul Racey made valuable suggestions and editorial corrections that improved the manuscript. Two anonymous reviewers made valuable comments that improved the content and structure of the manuscript.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: A.B.-d.l.P. and A.B.; methodology: A.B.-d.l.P. and A.B.; software: A.B.-d.l.P.; validation: A.B.-d.l.P. and A.B.; formal analysis: A.B.-d.l.P.; investigation: A.B.-d.l.P. and A.B.; resources: A.B.; data curation: A.B.-d.l.P. and A.B.; writing – original draft: A.B.; writing – review and editing: A.B.-d.l.P. and A.B.; supervision: A.B.-d.l.P. and A.B. All authors have read and agreed to this version of the manuscript.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: This research received no external funding.

  7. Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2023-12-12
Accepted: 2024-07-24
Published Online: 2024-10-11
Published in Print: 2025-01-29

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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  2. Conservation
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  4. Rediscovery of a population of the plains spotted skunk, Spilogale interrupta, a species of conservation concern, from southern Texas, USA
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  15. First record of a white phenotype Egyptian weasel (Mustela subpalmata) in Tahta, Sohag, Egypt
  16. Biogeography
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https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2023-0166
Keywords for this article
Chiroptera; biological cycle; moths; partial migration; sex-biased migration

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Conservation
  3. Demographic characteristics of the endangered Barbary sheep Ammotragus lervia (Bovidae: Caprini) in the fenced Amassine reserve, Western High Atlas range, Morocco
  4. Rediscovery of a population of the plains spotted skunk, Spilogale interrupta, a species of conservation concern, from southern Texas, USA
  5. Ecology
  6. Ecology, distribution and habitat suitability analysis of the North African sengi (Petrosaltator rozeti, Macroscelidea, Afrotheria) in Tunisia
  7. New data on the poorly known Andean rodent Abrocoma uspallata (Rodentia: Abrocomidae)
  8. Complex reproductive and migratory patterns in the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis) (Molossidae)
  9. Roosting ecology, reproduction, and population fluctuations of three Hipposideros species (Chiroptera) in Indonesian caves
  10. Exploring mammalian diversity in a human-modified landscape: insights from a small Cerrado fragment surrounded by silviculture
  11. Evolutionary Biology
  12. Cytogenetic data from remote areas of Amazon: new karyotypes for spiny rats (Rodentia: Echimyidae)
  13. Pigmentation anomalies and lesions in bats from Oaxaca, Mexico
  14. Camera trapping reveals the reddish phenotype of jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) on the western border of Brazilian Pantanal
  15. First record of a white phenotype Egyptian weasel (Mustela subpalmata) in Tahta, Sohag, Egypt
  16. Biogeography
  17. First record of the spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta in Egypt during the past 5,000 years
  18. First records and extension of the geographic distribution of Cynomops kuizha (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in the Colombian Caribbean
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