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Predictable timing of oestrus in the tropical bat Saccopteryx bilineata living in a Costa Rican rain forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Sabine Greiner ,
Franz Schwarzenberger  and
Christian C. Voigt
Sabine Greiner*
Affiliation:
Research Group Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany Freie Universität Berlin, Department Animal Behaviour, Takustr. 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Franz Schwarzenberger
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences – Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
Christian C. Voigt
Affiliation:
Research Group Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany Freie Universität Berlin, Department Animal Behaviour, Takustr. 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
*
1Corresponding author. Email: greiner@izw-berlin.de
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Abstract:

Many tropical mammals reproduce seasonally, although the circum-equatorial climate is more stable and less seasonal than that of temperate zones. The mechanisms underlying seasonal reproduction in the tropics remain enigmatic. Female reproduction and its relation to environmental factors were investigated in the Neotropical bat species Saccopteryx bilineata. Colonies consist of year-round stable groups of several females that are defended each by an adult male. Females give birth to a single offspring each year and it is suggested that mating is restricted to November and December. In this study, it was asked whether females of a Costa Rican colony come into oestrus around the same time each year and whether oestrus times are synchronized. Oestrogen and progesterone metabolites were monitored from faeces between October and January in four years. Oestrus was identified in 32 females. In addition, climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature were monitored at the study site. Results indicate that (1) females exhibit monoestry, (2) oestrus dates cluster around the first half of December, (3) reproduction is strongly seasonal and highly predictable and (4) oestrus times are possibly influenced by long-term cues like photoperiod and short-term cues like sudden changes in rainfall and temperature.

Keywords

Costa Ricaoestrusphotoperiodpolygynous mating systempredictabilitySaccopteryx bilineataseasonal reproductiontropical bat
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , March 2011 , pp. 121 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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