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  • 1
    ISSN: 1432-1939
    Keywords: Bats ; Energetics ; Diet composition ; Feeding rates ; Tadarida brasiliensis
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Stomach content analysis of 20 pregnant (x body mass=13.4 g) and 18 lactating (x body mass=11.5 g) female Tadarida brasiliensis revealed that the diet, expressed as percent volume, consists largely of lepidopterans, coleopterans, hymenopterans, and dipterans, in decreasing order of importance. We found no significant difference in the diet of pregnant and lactating females when expressed as percent volume. However, when expressed as percent frequency, proportionately more pregnant females fed on lepidopterans, coleopterans, and dipterans than did lactating bats, and proportionately more lactating females fed on hymenopterans. We found no significant differences in the percentages of water, lean dry mass, fat, and energy density in the stomach contents of pregnant and lactating females. Water in stomach contents averaged 62.7% and fat and lean dry mass averaged 22.2% and 15.2%, respectively (expressed as percentage of wet mass); energy density averaged 31.2 kJ g−1 dry mass. This relatively high energy density of stomach contents, as compared to whole insects, can be attributed to the consumption of insects high in fat (especially flying ants) and the abdomens only of moths and beetles (other body parts being discarded). Estimates of nightly food intake increased markedly from mid- to late pregnancy, stabilized or decreased during late pregnancy, and increased again during early to mid-lactation. Average nightly feeding rate doubled from pregnancy to lactation and increased threefold during the first half of lactation. By adjusting our gravimetric estimates of nightly feeding rate upwards by 40% (based on estimates of field metabolic rate), we estimate that the average nightly energy intake of female T. brasiliensis ranges from 57 kJ day−1 in early lactation to 104 kJ day−1 in mid-lactation. These estimates represent nightly feeding rates averaging 39% and 73% of a female's body mass in the period from early to mid-lactation, respectively.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 2
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Journal of comparative physiology 169 (1999), S. 61-66 
    ISSN: 1432-136X
    Keywords: Key words Chiroptera ; Energy balance ; Lactation ; Leptin ; Pregnancy
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract We previously demonstrated high leptin levels during late pregnancy in little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus). We now extend these observations to a second species, the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), and also report that leptin increases after the first trimester of pregnancy. Leptin decreased to baseline 1 week following parturition, with a half-time decay of 2 days. During lactation, leptin was significantly correlated with body mass in E. fuscus, but not in M. lucifugus. No circadian pattern of leptin was observed in M. lucifugus. The decrease in post-partum leptin in bats may be partly explained by loss of putative placental leptin. The continued decrease may reflect depletion of body fat during this energy demanding period, at least in Eptesicus. Changes in leptin during lactation appeared to be independent of circadian effects and time of sampling. Our study provides additional evidence that leptin increases during pregnancy and declines during lactation in a free-ranging mammal, supporting the hypothesis that leptin plays important but yet undetermined roles in reproduction.
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  • 3
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Journal of comparative physiology 164 (1995), S. 543-551 
    ISSN: 1432-136X
    Keywords: Milk composition ; Lactation ; Bats ; Free-ranging bats ; Microchiroptera
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Changes in milk composition are described for three species of free-ranging insectivorous bats (Myotis lucifugus, M. velifer, and Tadarida brasiliensis) from early to mid (peak) lactation. Dry matter and energy concentrations in milk increased from early to mid-lactation. In M. lucifugus and T. brasiliensis, but not M. velifer, these increases were due largely to a rise in fat concentration, since protein and carbohydrate remained relatively constant. Energy content of milk (kJ·g-1) for each species from early through mid-lactation was related to dry matter (DM) as follows: M. lucifugus (y=0.31 DM-0.32, r 2=0.68), M. velifer (y=0.48 DM-5.08, r 2=0.99), and T. brasiliensis (y=0.37 DM-1.51, r 2=0.61). Comparison of the effect of sampling method on milk composition of T. brasiliensis indicated that fat, dry matter, and energy concentrations increased significantly from pre-dawn to prenoon samples. Relatively high fat and low water levels in T. brasiliensis milk may reflect the limited access that lactating females have to free water, as well as need to minimize mass of stored milk during long foraging trips. Conversely, lower fat concentrations and higher water levels in milk in M. lucifugus and M. velifer may relate to the propensity for colonies of these two species to roost and forage near bodies of water. In addition, differences in milk fat concentrations observed among the three species may correlate to daily suckling schedules. Females of T. brasiliensis, for example, roost apart from and suckle their young on a regular daily schedule, whereas both species of Myotis roost with their pups and appear to suckle them on demand.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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