Floral scent in bat-pollinated plants: a case of convergent evolution

Knudsen, Jette T.; Tollsten, Lars

doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1995.tb00728.x

Cited by 132 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…A few studies of the scent composition of bat-pollinated flowers have been conducted [Knudsen and Tollsten, 1995;von Helverson et al, 2000]. Some scent chemists [R. Raguso, pers.…”

Section: Hutcheon/kirsch/garlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Analysis of Brain Size in Relation to Foraging Ecology and Phylogeny in the Chiroptera

Hutcheon

Kirsch²,

Garland³

2002

Brain Behav Evol

110

143

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Variations in total brain mass and in the mass of three brain regions (main olfactory bulb, hippocampus, auditory nuclei) were examined using a data set for 63 species of bats (Chiroptera). Using both conventional and phylogenetically based analysis of covariance (log body mass as covariate), we tested several hypotheses that relate total brain mass or the size of the components to variation in foraging ecology, categorized as phytophagous, gleaner, and aerial insectivore. In some analyses, the category phytophagous was split into phytophagous pteropodid and phytophagous phyllostomid to examine differences between two distinct clades of bats. Because the Megachiroptera orient primarily by vision and olfaction, whereas all other bats rely on laryngeal echolocation to locate their prey, we hypothesized that the former would differ in size of the main olfactory bulb, as compared with all other bats. This hypothesis was supported by our analyses. Our more general prediction was that insectivorous bats, which rely heavily on echolocation for the pursuit and capture of their prey, would have larger auditory nuclei than do phytophagous species. This, too, was supported. We also compared phytophagous (fruit or nectar consuming) bats in two families, the Pteropodidae and the Phyllostomidae. We hypothesized that the phyllostomids, which use echolocation while foraging, would have larger auditory nuclei. Although statistical power is low in phylogenetically informed comparisons of the two clades, we did find weak evidence in support of this hypothesis. We conclude that bat brains show evidence of adaptation to foraging ecology.

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“…A few studies of the scent composition of bat-pollinated flowers have been conducted [Knudsen and Tollsten, 1995;von Helverson et al, 2000]. Some scent chemists [R. Raguso, pers.…”

Section: Hutcheon/kirsch/garlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Analysis of Brain Size in Relation to Foraging Ecology and Phylogeny in the Chiroptera

Hutcheon

Kirsch²,

Garland³

2002

Brain Behav Evol

110

143

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…17 Different pollinators are found to be mostly associated with particular sets of volatile compounds. 9 In this sense, the composition of floral scent is part of the pollination syndrome, and can roughly reflect the pollination mode of plants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemistry of floral scents in four Licuala species (Arecaceae)

Meekijjaroenroj¹,

Bessière²,

Anstett³

2007

Flavour & Fragrance J

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“…This is mediated by floral odours that are highly attractive to bats (Knudsen and Tollsten, 1995;Bestmann et al, 1999;von Helversen et al, 2000). The combined occurrence of UVsensitivity in flower bats (Winter et al, 2003) and UVreflectivity of bat flower corollas (Biedinger and Barthlott, 1993) also indicates a function of vision in flower detection .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lack of generalization of object discrimination between spatial contexts by a bat

Stich

Winter

2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Discrimination and generalization are important elements of cognition in the daily lives of animals. Nectar-feeding bats detect flowers by olfaction and probably vision, but also use echolocation and echo-perception of flowers in immediate target surroundings. The echo received from an interference-rich flower corolla is a function of a bat's own relative position in space. This raises the question how easily a free-flying bat will generalize an echo stimulus from a learning situation to a new spatial context where differences in relative flight approach trajectories may lead to an unfamiliar spectral composition of the self-generated echoes. We trained free-flying Glossophaga soricina in echoacoustic discrimination in a two-alternative forced-choice (2-AFC) paradigm at location A. We then tested at location B for spontaneous transfer of discrimination ability. Bats did not spontaneously transfer the discrimination ability acquired at A to location B. This lack of spontaneous generalization may have been caused by factors of the underlying learning mechanisms. 2-AFC tasks may not be representative of the natural foraging behaviour of flower-visiting bats. In contrast to insect-eating bats that constantly evaluate the environment to detect unpredictable prey, the spatial stability of flowers may allow flower visitors to rely on spatial memory to guide foraging. The 2-AFC task requires the disregard (learned irrelevance) of salient spatial location cues that are different at each new location. In Glossophaga, a conjunction between spatial context and 2-AFC discrimination learning may have inhibited the transfer of learned irrelevance of spatial location in the 2-AFC task to new spatial locations. Alternatively, the bats may have learnt the second discrimination task completely anew, and were faster only because of an acquired learning set. We suggest a dissociation between 2-AFC task acquisition and novel object discrimination learning to resolve the issue.

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Floral scent in bat-pollinated plants: a case of convergent evolution

Cited by 132 publications

References 31 publications

A Comparative Analysis of Brain Size in Relation to Foraging Ecology and Phylogeny in the Chiroptera

A Comparative Analysis of Brain Size in Relation to Foraging Ecology and Phylogeny in the Chiroptera

Chemistry of floral scents in four Licuala species (Arecaceae)

Lack of generalization of object discrimination between spatial contexts by a bat

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