Echolocation of Central Amazonian 'whispering' phyllostomid bats : call design and interspecific variation

Yoh, NJA, Syme, P, Rocha, R, Meyer, CFJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9958-8913 and Lopez-Baucells, A 2020, 'Echolocation of Central Amazonian 'whispering' phyllostomid bats : call design and interspecific variation' , Mammal Research, 65 , pp. 583-597.

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Abstract

Phyllostomids (New World leaf-nosed bats) are the ecologically most diverse bat family and have undergone the most extensive adaptive radiation of any mammalian family. However comprehensive, multi-species studies regarding phyllostomid echolocation are scarce in the literature despite abundant ecological research. In this study, we describe the call structure and interspecific variation in call design of 40 sympatric phyllostomid species from the Central Brazilian Amazon, focussing on general patterns within genera, sub-families, and between feeding guilds. All but one species utilised short, broadband FM calls consisting of multiple harmonics. As reported for other bat families, peak frequency was negatively correlated with body mass and forearm length. Twenty-five species alternated the harmonic of maximum energy, principally between the second and third harmonic. Based on PCA, we were unable to detect any significant differences in echolocation call parameters between genera, sub-families or between different feeding guilds, confirming that acoustic surveys cannot be used to reliably monitor these species. We present Ametrida centurio as an exception to this generalised phyllostomid structure, as it is unique in producing a mono-harmonic call. Finally, we discuss several hypotheses regarding the evolutionary pressures influencing phyllostomid call structure.

Item Type:	Article
Schools:	Schools > School of Environment and Life Sciences > Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre
Journal or Publication Title:	Mammal Research
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
ISSN:	2199-2401
Related URLs:	Publication
Funders:	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Bat Conservation Trust, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Depositing User:	USIR Admin
Date Deposited:	07 May 2020 10:47
Last Modified:	11 Jun 2020 09:30
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/56981

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