Reproductive events and social organization in a colony of Anoura geoffroyi (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from a temperate Mexican cave

[摘要] Social correlates of reproductive events of a colony of Anoura geoffroyi from the "La Mina" cave at San Francisco de las Tablas, State of Mexico, 2670 m, were studied for two years during which the bats showed consistent seasonal breeding pattern, as well as colony rearrangements. Females are monoestrous and monotocous. Mating took place in the summer (June-July) when males reach maximum testes size and females were in estrus. Births occurred from late September to mid November. Lactation began in late September and extended until early January. Both gestation and lactation lasted three months. Females underwent the reproductive events in two sequential groups. In the spring (March-May), the colony was organized into 10-12 groups of 13-15 individuals, containing females, males and young. In the summer (June-August), the groups were reduced to seven or eight, each containing 25-30 individuals. Later, 80% of the population formed one group, the mating colony. In September, the group was made up of 150 individuals, most of them pregnant females. In October, males left the colony, and a maternity colony was formed, which broke up in January, with the return of the males. When nursing females foraged, they left their offspring in the colony in care of a small number of presumably adult females which roosted in the center of the nursery group. Female-male ratio fluctuated from 1:1 to 1.5:1 during most of the year, except in October (3:1), November (8:1), and December (16:0) when departure of the males and the formation of the maternity colony took place.

[学科分类] 动物科学

[关键词] Anoura geoffroyi;temperate forest;behavior;Geoffroy tailless-bat;México;Phyllostomidae;reproduction;temperate cave