Social calls produced within and near the roost in two species of tent-making bats, Dermanura watsoni and Ectophylla alba

Social animals regularly face the problem of relocating conspecifics when separated. Communication is one of the most important mechanisms facilitating group formation and cohesion. Known as contact calls, signals exchanged between conspecifics that permit group maintenance are widespread across man...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-04, Vol.8 (4), p.e61731-e61731
Main Authors: Gillam, Erin H, Chaverri, Gloriana, Montero, Karina, Sagot, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal Communication
Animal reproduction
Animals
Antrozous pallidus
Bats
Biology
Chiroptera
Chiroptera - physiology
Cohesion
Communication
Conspecifics
Dermanura watsoni
Diaemus youngi
Ecology
Ectophylla alba
Female
Flowers & plants
Foliage
Hypotheses
Male
Males
Nesting Behavior
Recruitment
Roosts
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social aspects
Species
Structure-function relationships
Taxa
Tents
Time Factors
Vocalization behavior
White bat
Zoology
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Summary:Social animals regularly face the problem of relocating conspecifics when separated. Communication is one of the most important mechanisms facilitating group formation and cohesion. Known as contact calls, signals exchanged between conspecifics that permit group maintenance are widespread across many taxa. Foliage-roosting bats are an excellent model system for studying the evolution of contact calling, as there are opportunities to compare closely related species that exhibit major differences in ecology and behavior. Further, foliage-roosting bats rely on relatively ephemeral roosts, which leads to major challenges in maintaining group cohesion. Here, we report findings on the communication signals produced by two tent-making bats, Dermanura watsoni and Ectophylla alba. We found that both species produced calls in the early morning near the roost that were associated with roostmate recruitment. Calling often ended once other bats arrived at the tent, suggesting that calls may be involved in roostmate recruitment and group formation. The structure and function of these calls are described and future research directions are discussed.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0061731