Sociality In Bats

Download or read book Sociality in Bats written by Jorge Ortega and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-06-07 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides new insights into the social behavior of bats - one of the most fascinating topics currently being pursued by researchers. After an introduction reviewing the history of research in bat behavioral ecology, it covers three major themes: bat sociality per se (Part I), bat communication (Part II), and ecological aspects (Part III). Part I offers a concise overview of the social organization and systems of bats, introducing readers to the complexity and dynamics of group structures. Part II is devoted to the innovative field of social communication, focusing on bat songs, dialects and calls. Part III discusses the influence of the environment on bat behavior, particularly with regard to roosting and foraging. This book addresses the needs of researchers working in behavioral sciences, evolution and ecology.

Download or read book Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland written by Neil Middleton and published by Pelagic Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2014-09-01 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bats are fascinating mammals about which we still have much to learn. As well as using ultrasonic echolocation calls for orientation and while foraging, they also have a complex array of vocalisations for communication. These are known as social calls and are an essential component of their colonial lifestyle. This book brings together the current state of knowledge of social calls relating to the bat species occurring within Britain and Ireland, with some additional examples from species represented elsewhere in Europe. It includes access to a downloadable library of calls to be used in conjunction with the book. Downloadable call library Social calls are complex and intriguing to listen to; they are after all produced with listeners in mind (other bats). To enjoy and fully appreciate social calls the reader must also have the opportunity to become a listener: each of the presented sonograms in the book is cross-referenced to downloadable ‘time expanded’ .wav sound files which are contained within a much wider library of calls for you to explore. Included in Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland The authors start with an overview of the species of bats in Britain and Ireland (Chapter 1), and then introduce us to communication within the social world of bats (Chapter 2). Referencing the latest research, the authors explore how these calls can be classified according to their structure, and in many cases the context in which the calls are thought to be emitted (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 addresses aspects of survey methodology to be considered by those studying social calls. This leads on to the analysis of calls (Chapter 5), detailing the specific methods used and parameters commonly measured by researchers. The final, and main chapter (Chapter 6) introduces the 23 species covered in the book giving each a detailed profile including: habitat preferences, typical roosting locations, roost emergence times, mating strategies and maternity behaviour. Each species profile includes what is known about the social calls for that species and this text is supported by colour sonograms (created using Pettersson BatSound V4.1) of most of the calls discussed. Each sonogram is linked to a .wav sound file (Time Expansion x10) within the downloadable library. The sound files allow the reader to hear, as well as see, the calls produced using any bat sound analysis software that supports the .wav format. The authors conclude with a bibliography and an extensive list of references directly cross-referenced throughout the book.

Download or read book Social Functions of Bat Vocalizations written by Mirjam Knörnschild and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2023-08-11 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bats are highly gregarious mammals that have been extensively studied for their ability to echolocate (i.e., gain information from the echoes of ultrasonic calls) to navigate and find food. Perhaps less well studied are social vocalizations, which bats use to communicate with conspecifics. Some bat species have been shown to possess rich vocal repertoires, supporting intricate social interactions. While the roost is likely where the majority of a bat's social interactions occur, on account of higher densities, there are also behavioral contexts that occur predominantly, if not solely in flight, that are associated with social calls. Bats exhibit an extensive range in social group size, social group organization, and mating systems, making them interesting for comparative, phylogenetically controlled analyses. Group size is often correlated with vocal complexity, as more complex vocalizations can encode more information about individual identity. Vocal learning has been observed in some species of bats. The full vocal repertoires of relatively few bat species have been studied thus far, as they are nocturnal, volant animals that produce predominately ultrasonic vocalizations. With more data available, bats would be a very useful taxon for studying the evolution of social communication, as they exhibit not only a high diversity of social group size and complexity but also sophisticated vocalizations. Social vocalizations can be structurally diverse and are highly important for bat sociality. Calls often vary notably between species. Research in this field has barely scratched the surface, and there is still much to learn about social communication in bats.

Download or read book Long-Term Field Studies of Primates written by Peter M. Kappeler and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-01-07 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some primate field studies have been on-going for decades, covering significant portions of individual life cycles or even multiple generations. In this volume, leading field workers report on the history and infrastructure of their projects in Madagascar, Africa, Asia and South America. More importantly, they provide summaries of their long-term research efforts on primate behaviour, ecology and life history, highlighting insights that were only possible because of the long-term nature of the study. The chapters of this volume collectively outline the many scientific reasons for studying primate behaviour, ecology and demography over multiple generations. This kind of research is typically necessitated by the relatively slow life histories of primates. Moreover, a complete understanding of social organization and behaviour, factors often influenced by rare but important events, requires long-term data collection. Finally, long-term field projects are also becoming increasingly important foci of local conservation activities.

Download or read book Animal Social Complexity written by Frans B. M. De Waal and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-01 with total page 650 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over 25 years, primatologists have speculated that intelligence, at least in monkeys and apes, evolved as an adaptation to the complicated social milieu of hard-won friendships and bitterly contested rivalries. Yet the Balkanization of animal research has prevented us from studying the same problem in other large-brained, long-lived animals, such as hyenas and elephants, bats and sperm whales. Social complexity turns out to be widespread indeed. For example, in many animal societies one individual's innovation, such as tool use or a hunting technique, may spread within the group, thus creating a distinct culture. As this collection of studies on a wide range of species shows, animals develop a great variety of traditions, which in turn affect fitness and survival. The editors argue that future research into complex animal societies and intelligence will change the perception of animals as gene machines, programmed to act in particular ways and perhaps elevate them to a status much closer to our own. At a time when humans are perceived more biologically than ever before, and animals as more cultural, are we about to witness the dawn of a truly unified social science, one with a distinctly cross-specific perspective?

Download or read book Phyllostomid Bats written by Theodore H. Fleming and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-10-16 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With more than two hundred species distributed from California through Texas and across most of mainland Mexico, Central and South America, and islands in the Caribbean Sea, the Phyllostomidae bat family (American leaf-nosed bats) is one of the world’s most diverse mammalian families. From an insectivorous ancestor, species living today, over about 30 million years, have evolved a hyper-diverse range of diets, from blood or small vertebrates, to consuming nectar, pollen, and fruit. Phyllostomid plant-visiting species are responsible for pollinating more than five hundred species of neotropical shrubs, trees, vines, and epiphytes—many of which are economically and ecologically important—and they also disperse the seeds of at least another five hundred plant species. Fruit-eating and seed-dispersing members of this family thus play a crucial role in the regeneration of neotropical forests, and the fruit eaters are among the most abundant mammals in these habitats. Coauthored by leading experts in the field and synthesizing the latest advances in molecular biology and ecological methods, Phyllostomid Bats is the first overview in more than forty years of the evolution of the many morphological, behavioral, physiological, and ecological adaptations in this family. Featuring abundant illustrations as well as details on the current conservation status of phyllostomid species, it is both a comprehensive reference for these ecologically vital creatures and a fascinating exploration of the evolutionary process of adaptive radiation.

Download or read book Mammal Societies written by Tim Clutton-Brock and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-04-20 with total page 760 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book aims to integrate our understanding of mammalian societies into a novel synthesis that is relevant to behavioural ecologists, ecologists, and anthropologists. It adopts a coherent structure that deals initially with the characteristics and strategies of females, before covering those of males, cooperative societies and hominid societies. It reviews our current understanding both of the structure of societies and of the strategies of individuals; it combines coverage of relevant areas of theory with coverage of interspecific comparisons, intraspecific comparisons and experiments; it explores both evolutionary causes of different traits and their ecological consequences; and it integrates research on different groups of mammals with research on primates and humans and attempts to put research on human societies into a broader perspective.