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Common Noctule Bats Are Sexually Dimorphic in Migratory Behaviour and Body Size but Not Wing Shape
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 11, p e0167027 (2016), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2016.
-
Abstract
- Within the large order of bats, sexual size dimorphism measured by forearm length and body mass is often female-biased. Several studies have explained this through the effects on load carrying during pregnancy, intrasexual competition, as well as the fecundity and thermoregulation advantages of increased female body size. We hypothesized that wing shape should differ along with size and be under variable selection pressure in a species where there are large differences in flight behaviour. We tested whether load carrying, sex differential migration, or reproductive advantages of large females affect size and wing shape dimorphism in the common noctule (Nyctalus noctula), in which females are typically larger than males and only females migrate long distances each year. We tested for univariate and multivariate size and shape dimorphism using data sets derived from wing photos and biometric data collected during pre-migratory spring captures in Switzerland. Females had forearms that are on average 1% longer than males and are 1% heavier than males after emerging from hibernation, but we found no sex differences in other size, shape, or other functional characters in any wing parameters during this pre-migratory period. Female-biased size dimorphism without wing shape differences indicates that reproductive advantages of big mothers are most likely responsible for sexual dimorphism in this species, not load compensation or shape differences favouring aerodynamic efficiency during pregnancy or migration. Despite large behavioural and ecological sex differences, morphology associated with a specialized feeding niche may limit potential dimorphism in narrow-winged bats such as common noctules and the dramatic differences in migratory behaviour may then be accomplished through plasticity in wing kinematics. published
- Subjects :
- Male
Physiology
Geometry
lcsh:Medicine
Pregnancy
ddc:570
Chiroptera
Wings
Bats
Medicine and Health Sciences
Animals
Body Size
Wings, Animal
Biomechanics
Bat Flight
Animal Anatomy
lcsh:Science
Musculoskeletal System
Mammals
Forearms
Behavior
Sex Characteristics
Animal Behavior
Biological Locomotion
Fruit Bats
Limbs (Anatomy)
lcsh:R
Organisms
Biology and Life Sciences
Arms
Aspect Ratio
Flight, Animal
Vertebrates
Amniotes
Physical Sciences
Animal Migration
Female
lcsh:Q
Anatomy
Zoology
Flight (Biology)
Mathematics
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.pmid.dedup....8d97e1b640a6e567f0d49c8aef8e8c38