Blindness in echolocating bats
-
Anderson Feijó
,
Hannah Nunes
Abstract
Vision in echolocating bats works complementary to their echolocation signals and is especially important in long-range orientation. Contrary to previous predictions, we report here the first case of blindness and ocular anomalies in healthy adult echolocating bats. Two anomalous individuals of Carollia perspicillata, two Artibeus planirostris and one Artibeus lituratus were captured in highly human-modified areas (urban and agricultural). One C. perspicillata was totally blind exhibiting completely closed eyelids and the others presented strong corneal opacity in their right eye. Our finding brings new insights about the habitat perception in mammals and suggests an unreported ecological compensation of the sensory system in bats.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Guilherme Siniciato T. Garbino and Noé U. de la Sancha for their helpful comments on early versions of the manuscript, and Ricardo Silveira Filho, Felipe Jardelino Eloi, Jeanneson Silva, Fabrício Furni and Derick Lima for field work assistance. This work was partially supported by CAPES and by the Programa Pesquisa para o SUS (Grant number EFP_00008705). AF is supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship Initiative (grant no. 2018PB0040).
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©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Taxonomy/phylogeny
- The usage of subgenera in mammalian taxonomy
- Geographic variation in quantitative skull traits in the genus Myoprocta Thomas, 1903 (Rodentia, Dasyproctidae) and its taxonomic implications
- First records of Thyroptera lavali (Chiroptera, Thyropteridae) for the Guiana Shield with an updated distribution of Thyroptera species in Venezuela
- Redescription and phylogenetic position of Ctenomys dorsalis Thomas 1900, an enigmatic tuco tuco (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae) from the Paraguayan Chaco
- Taxonomic and genetic diversity of rodents from the Arsi Mountains (Ethiopia)
- Ecology
- Effect of predation on adult pronghorn Antilocapra americana (Antilocapridae) in New Mexico, Southwestern USA
- Habitat characteristics of the Japanese water shrew, Chimarrogale platycephalus
- Wintering range of Pipistrellus nathusii (Chiroptera) in Central Europe: has the species extended to the north-east using urban heat islands?
- Blindness in echolocating bats
- Analyses of predation behavior of the desert shrew Notiosorex crawfordi
- Complete albinism in Oxymycterus dasytrichus (Schinz 1821) (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
- Water-filled Asian elephant tracks serve as breeding sites for anurans in Myanmar
- Biogeography
- On the distribution of the Brazilian porcupine Coendou prehensilis (Erethizontidae) in Colombia
- Conservation
- Recording of relict ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and South American coati (Nasua nasua) populations in the biodiversity hotspot Pernambuco Endemism Center, Northern Atlantic Forest, Brazil
- “An American near Rome” … and not only! Presence of the eastern cottontail in Central Italy and potential impacts on the endemic and vulnerable Apennine hare
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Taxonomy/phylogeny
- The usage of subgenera in mammalian taxonomy
- Geographic variation in quantitative skull traits in the genus Myoprocta Thomas, 1903 (Rodentia, Dasyproctidae) and its taxonomic implications
- First records of Thyroptera lavali (Chiroptera, Thyropteridae) for the Guiana Shield with an updated distribution of Thyroptera species in Venezuela
- Redescription and phylogenetic position of Ctenomys dorsalis Thomas 1900, an enigmatic tuco tuco (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae) from the Paraguayan Chaco
- Taxonomic and genetic diversity of rodents from the Arsi Mountains (Ethiopia)
- Ecology
- Effect of predation on adult pronghorn Antilocapra americana (Antilocapridae) in New Mexico, Southwestern USA
- Habitat characteristics of the Japanese water shrew, Chimarrogale platycephalus
- Wintering range of Pipistrellus nathusii (Chiroptera) in Central Europe: has the species extended to the north-east using urban heat islands?
- Blindness in echolocating bats
- Analyses of predation behavior of the desert shrew Notiosorex crawfordi
- Complete albinism in Oxymycterus dasytrichus (Schinz 1821) (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
- Water-filled Asian elephant tracks serve as breeding sites for anurans in Myanmar
- Biogeography
- On the distribution of the Brazilian porcupine Coendou prehensilis (Erethizontidae) in Colombia
- Conservation
- Recording of relict ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and South American coati (Nasua nasua) populations in the biodiversity hotspot Pernambuco Endemism Center, Northern Atlantic Forest, Brazil
- “An American near Rome” … and not only! Presence of the eastern cottontail in Central Italy and potential impacts on the endemic and vulnerable Apennine hare
