Presentation Details
| Bats That Forage Like Lions: Small Predators Hunt Large Prey with Surprising Efficiency Rachel A.Page1, Peter T.Madsen2, Sebastian A.Mortensen2, Gregg Cohen1, Laura Stidsholt2, A.Leonie Baier1, 3. 1Center for Animal Behavior, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama.2Center for Active Sensing with Sound, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.3Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Understanding Evolution Group, Leiden, Netherlands |
Abstract
Large-bodied predators, such as lions and polar bears, hunt large prey with prolonged searches, energetic chases, and low success rates. Most of the >1500 bat species worldwide are insectivorous, hunting small, abundant insects with low energetic costs and high success rates. True carnivory, in which >50% of energetic demand is met with vertebrate prey, has evolved just nine times in bats. How do small carnivorous predators, with high metabolic rates and small energy stores, utilize a strategy that in large Carnivora is characterized by low success rates and high energetic costs? We fitted fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus) with biologgers and monitored hunting behavior in the Panama rainforest. Bats spent only a fraction of their time in flight (median 11%, quartiles 7–14%), complementing short search and pursuit times with high success rates (median 50%, quartiles 35–62%). Median estimated prey size corresponded to ~7% of bat’s body mass; long mastication times indicated that bats also consume prey approaching their body size. This unusual low-risk/high-gain strategy likely relies on high prey densities and raises concerns for the Anthropocene fate of these small predators.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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