Abstract:
Torpor is widespread among bats presumably because most species are small, and torpor greatly reduces their high mass-specific resting energy expenditure, especially in the cold. Torpor has not been recorded in any bat species larger than 50 g, yet in theory could be beneficial even in the world\'s largest bats (flying-foxes; Pteropus spp.) that are exposed to adverse environmental conditions causing energy bottlenecks. We used temperature telemetry to measure body temperature in wild-living adult male grey-headed flying-foxes (P. poliocephalus; 799 g) during winter in southern Australia. We found that all individuals used torpor while day-roosting, with minimum body temperature reaching 27°C. Torpor was recorded following a period of cool, wet and windy weather, and on a day with the coldest maximum air temperature, suggesting it is an adaptation to reduce energy expenditure during periods of increased thermoregulatory costs and depleted body energy stores. A capacity for torpor among flying-foxes has implications for understanding their distribution, behavioural ecology and life history. Furthermore, our discovery increases the body mass of bats known to use torpor by more than tenfold and extends the documented use of this energy-saving strategy under wild conditions to all bat superfamilies, with implications for the evolutionary maintenance of torpor among bats and other mammals.
摘要:
Torpor在蝙蝠中普遍存在,大概是因为大多数物种都很小,和Torpor大大降低了它们的高质量特定静息能量消耗,尤其是在寒冷的时候。在任何大于50克的蝙蝠物种中都没有记录到Torpor,然而从理论上讲,即使在世界上最大的蝙蝠(飞狐;翼龙属。)暴露在不利的环境条件下,导致能源瓶颈。我们使用温度遥测技术来测量野生成年雄性灰头飞狐的体温(P。脊髓灰质炎;799克)在澳大利亚南部的冬季。我们发现所有的人都在白天栖息的时候使用托尔波尔,最低体温达到27℃。Torpor是在凉爽一段时间后记录的,潮湿多风的天气,在最高气温最冷的一天,这表明,在体温调节成本增加和身体能量储备耗尽的时期,这是一种减少能量消耗的适应方法。飞狐的恐怖能力对理解它们的分布有影响,行为生态学和生活史。此外,我们的发现使已知使用torpor的蝙蝠的体重增加了十倍以上,并将这种节能策略在野外条件下的使用扩大到所有蝙蝠超家族,这对蝙蝠和其他哺乳动物的进化维持有影响。