TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethanol ingestion affects flight performance and echolocation in Egyptian fruit bats
AU - Sánchez, Francisco
AU - Melcón, Mariana
AU - Korine, Carmi
AU - Pinshow, Berry
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Rimma Gluhih for her assistance maintaining the bats, and to Robert Ashdown and Stephanie Anderson for their help collecting the data for the first experiment. We also wish to thank H. U. Schnitzler from Tübingen, Germany, for the use of the recording equipment. The manuscript benefited from the comments of two anonymous reviewers. Partial support was provided by a stipend and a student research grant from the Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology (MDDE) to F. Sánchez. M. Melcón received support from the Sixth EU Framework Programme – Transnational Access implemented as Specific Support Action, Dryland Research SSA. The research was done under permit 18150 from the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority. This is paper number 671 of the MDDE.
PY - 2010/6/1
Y1 - 2010/6/1
N2 - Ethanol, a potential toxin for vertebrates, is present in all fleshy fruits and its content increases as the fruit ripens. Previously, we found that the marginal value of food for Egyptian fruit bats, Rousettus aegyptiacus, decreases when its ethanol content exceeds 1%. Therefore, we hypothesized that, if ingested, food containing >1% ethanol is toxic to these bats, probably causing inebriation that will affect flight and echolocation skills. We tested this hypothesis by flying Egyptian fruit bats in an indoor corridor and found that after ingesting ethanol-rich food bats flew significantly slower than when fed ethanol-free food. Also, the ingestion of ethanol significantly affected several variables of the bats' echolocation calls and behavior. We concluded that ethanol can be toxic to fruit bats; not only does it reduce the marginal value of food, but it also has negative physiological effects on their ability to fly competently and on their calling ability.
AB - Ethanol, a potential toxin for vertebrates, is present in all fleshy fruits and its content increases as the fruit ripens. Previously, we found that the marginal value of food for Egyptian fruit bats, Rousettus aegyptiacus, decreases when its ethanol content exceeds 1%. Therefore, we hypothesized that, if ingested, food containing >1% ethanol is toxic to these bats, probably causing inebriation that will affect flight and echolocation skills. We tested this hypothesis by flying Egyptian fruit bats in an indoor corridor and found that after ingesting ethanol-rich food bats flew significantly slower than when fed ethanol-free food. Also, the ingestion of ethanol significantly affected several variables of the bats' echolocation calls and behavior. We concluded that ethanol can be toxic to fruit bats; not only does it reduce the marginal value of food, but it also has negative physiological effects on their ability to fly competently and on their calling ability.
KW - Alcohol
KW - Chiroptera
KW - Echolocation
KW - Pteropodidae
KW - Toxins
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77952885869&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.beproc.2010.02.006
DO - 10.1016/j.beproc.2010.02.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 20153407
AN - SCOPUS:77952885869
SN - 0376-6357
VL - 84
SP - 555
EP - 558
JO - Behavioural Processes
JF - Behavioural Processes
IS - 2
ER -