Observations on female bats transporting non-volant juveniles during flight
Arturo Hernández-Mijangos, L.Horváth, AnnaPérez Canales, Rafael
We report observations on mother bats of six species transporting their non-volant juveniles during flight. This is the first published record of such behavior for Carollia sowelli and Glossophaga commissarisi. Transportation of non-volant juveniles has been occasionally documented in several species, in most of the cases after roost disturbance. Many explanations have been suggested for this behavior related to the complex patterns of social organization and roost utilization during the breeding season. Nevertheless, for frugivorous species, an alternative explanation has been suggested that transportation of the offspring during foraging flights may serve for training purposes, where the juveniles learn about suitable food, location of resources and flight routes. Here we contribute to the knowledge of parental care in tropical bats presenting data about transportation of juveniles by their mothers. Four of six captured female bats belong to species with obligatory or facultative use of exposed roost. Because of this, it is likely that mothers transferred their juveniles between alternative roosts, as a strategy to increase the offspring survival probability.