The role of temperature on clustering behavior and mating opportunity in Bonin flying foxes

Sugita, Norimasa; Ueda, Keisuke

doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2013.07.078

Cited by 11 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Moreover, marked individuals were absent in the observational period, except for one radio-collared animal [16]. It is possible that this small number of males specifically engaged in male genital licking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…pselaphon annually forms an arboreal colonial roost in winter from October to mid-May [16,17]. The colonial roost includes ca.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…pselaphon were divided into three distinct groups: a male group, including adult males and several subadults; a female group, including mostly females and a few adult males; and a subadult group, including subadult individuals of both sexes. Each group also included some ball-shaped clusters in which more than two flying foxes roosted in direct physical contact with each other (S1 Fig) [16,17]. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been proposed that the clustering behavior could be a behavioral adaptation to the cold winter weather in one of the most northern distribution areas of the genus, because the frequency of clustering individuals and the number of individuals in clusters has decreased with increasing ambient temperature [16]. The clustering behavior has also been associated with a possible from of polygyny [16]. Some female clusters also contained a single male as well as multiple females.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A male was observed to exclude other males from the periphery of female clusters, allowing this individual to monopolize copulations with clustering females. Clusters in the female group were assembled at one or two roosting trees, whereas clusters in the male group were scattered around the female group [16,17]. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Homosexual Fellatio: Erect Penis Licking between Male Bonin Flying Foxes Pteropus pselaphon

Sugita

2016

PLoS ONE

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A recent focus of interest has been on the functional significance of genital licking (fellatio and cunnilingus) in relation to sexual selection in Pteropodid bats. In the present paper, a form of fellatio in wild Bonin flying foxes, Pteropus pselaphon, performed between adult males has been reported. During the mating season, adult flying foxes roost in same-sex groups, forming ball-shaped clusters which provide warmth. The female clusters may also contain a few males. Unassociated with allogrooming, same-sex genital licking occurred among males in the all male clusters. As such, male-male fellatio can be considered as homosexual behavior, two functional explanations could account for this behavior; the social bonding and the social tension regulation hypotheses suggested in a previous review. Given that neither the simpler alternative that in all male groups such fellatio may represent misdirected sexual behavior, nor the two previously proposed functional hypotheses were supported by the data, I propose another functional hypothesis. Homosexual fellatio in this species could help males solve inconsistent situations in the roost when there are conflicts between cooperative behavior for social thermoregulation and competition for mating.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…pselaphon annually forms an arboreal colonial roost in winter from October to mid-May [16,17]. The colonial roost includes ca.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Homosexual Fellatio: Erect Penis Licking between Male Bonin Flying Foxes Pteropus pselaphon

Sugita

2016

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

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Bat mating systems—A review and recategorisation

Dorrestein,

Westcott,

Martin

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Mating systems, influenced by the social and ecological environment and individual attributes, are fundamental components of animal social organisation, impacting behaviour, animal distribution, ecosystem processes, individual reproductive success, and population dynamics. Bats are of particular interest for studies of mating systems as they are thought to exhibit a greater diversity in mating systems than any other mammalian order, and thus make great models for improving our fundamental understanding of causes and consequences of social organisation. Here, we review the current knowledge of bat mating systems. Our analyses show that research on bat mating systems has not kept pace with research on bats in general and that traditional typologies do not accommodate the mating system of several species. Therefore, we propose an alternative, functional framework to categorise mating systems of bats and by extension of other taxa. We argue that mating systems can be classified according to a male reproductive skew continuum, with an increasing skew from monogamy to true lekking. We include an additional category of lek‐like mating system along the continuum to account for previous trans‐categorical cases that have the appearance of resource defence but are functionally akin to a lek. The new framework has a total of seven categories: promiscuity, monogamy, female defence polygyny, resource defence polygyny, a lek‐like mating system, exploded classical lek, and clustered classical lek. Applying this framework to bats reveals that lek mating systems are more prevalent in bats than previously recognised. It is our aim that this review and the proposed framework provide a greater understanding of bat mating systems particularly and provoke research into the factors that shape mating systems across animal taxa more generally.

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Huddling is more important than rest site selection for thermoregulation in southern bamboo lemurs

et al. 2017

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Resting site selection can have important effects on the behaviour and fitness of organisms. The maintenance of optimal body temperatures (Tb) when faced with environmental variables has often been attributed to either specific microhabitat rest site characteristics or to behavioural strategies. Among many small group living endotherms, social thermoregulation (i.e., huddling) is utilised as a behavioural energy conservation mechanism at low ambient temperatures (Ta), thus decreasing the metabolic cost of maintaining Tb. Though unusual among primates, lemurs are hypometabolic and exhibit a diversity of thermoregulatory strategies; however, objective Tb measurements have thus far been limited to small-bodied lemurs (e.g., Cheirogaleids). As such, we sought to determine whether a medium-sized lemur model, the southern bamboo lemur (Hapalemur meridionalis), would maintain thermoregulation through microhabitat rest site selection, huddling behaviour, or potentially both strategies. Within a degraded littoral forest fragment in southeast Madagascar, we conducted full-day focal observations on three groups of H. meridionalis between January and December 2013. Adult individuals were collared with data-loggers that collected instantaneous skin temperature Tsk (°C). We calculated the mean Tsk of the focal individual during each resting bout, and the proportional rate of huddling between the focal and conspecifics. In addition, we recorded all resting sites utilised ≥15 min and collected standard tree characteristics. We fitted Linear Mixed-Effects Models to determine the thermoregulatory combined effect of specific resting site characteristics, huddling behaviour, and environmental variables on Tsk. Our results showed that lemurs selected tree sites with larger diameter at breast height; however, huddling was most predictive of increasing Tsk whereas resting site characteristics were not included in the bestfit model. It is possible that microhabitat rest site selection is not significant in a degraded Behavioural thermoregulation in Hapalemur 3 forest as the potential environmental buffering is limited, thus thermoregulatory mechanisms are likely best served by behavioural strategies, i.e., social huddling.

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The role of temperature on clustering behavior and mating opportunity in Bonin flying foxes

Cited by 11 publications

References 29 publications

Homosexual Fellatio: Erect Penis Licking between Male Bonin Flying Foxes Pteropus pselaphon

Homosexual Fellatio: Erect Penis Licking between Male Bonin Flying Foxes Pteropus pselaphon

Bat mating systems—A review and recategorisation

Huddling is more important than rest site selection for thermoregulation in southern bamboo lemurs

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