Fluctuating asymmetry in populations of bats: species adapted to urban environments are not hampered by habitat degradation
Figueiredo, Daniel deMiller, Bruna GonçalvesLeal, Edson Silva BarbosaMontes, Martin Alejandro
Fluctuating asymmetry is a biological phenomenon defined by directionally departures from perfect symmetry and is hypothesized to indicate the inability of an organism to maintain precise development. Furthermore, its measurement permits evaluation of levels of stress during development of organisms, since asymmetric patterns indicate a stressful environment during ontogeny. This study aimed to assess whether there is significant difference between body sides in two bat species adapted to urban environments and if there is significant difference in levels of asymmetry in various body regions. Bats, Artibeus planirostris (n = 89) and Sturnira lilium (n = 36), were studied. In most body parts, there was no significant difference between sides, suggesting that species adapted to a human environment were not hampered. Moreover, we observed that bat forelimbs had the lowest levels of asymmetry (p 0.05 between the hindlimb and forelimb, and p 0.01 between the head and forelimb, on females of S. lilium). Some studies suggest a ranking of importance of body parts based on the degree of asymmetry. This study highlighted the importance of the forelimbs in bats and suggested that they are not hampered by adaptation to human environments.(AU)