Urban fruit bats give birth earlier in the season compared to rural fruit bats
Abstract Background Urbanization is rapidly altering our ecosystem. While most wild species refrain from entering urban habitats, some flourish in cities and adapt to the new opportunities these offer. Urban individuals of various species have been shown to differ in physiology, morphology, and beha...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | BMC Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02124-y |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832571296083345408 |
|---|---|
| author | Maya Weinberg Dean Zigdon Mor Taub Lee Harten Ofri Eitan Adi Rachum Reut Assa Omri Gal Yossi Yovel |
| author_facet | Maya Weinberg Dean Zigdon Mor Taub Lee Harten Ofri Eitan Adi Rachum Reut Assa Omri Gal Yossi Yovel |
| author_sort | Maya Weinberg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Urbanization is rapidly altering our ecosystem. While most wild species refrain from entering urban habitats, some flourish in cities and adapt to the new opportunities these offer. Urban individuals of various species have been shown to differ in physiology, morphology, and behavior compared to their rural counterparts. While several studies have suggested that urban dwelling alters the reproductive cycle in birds, such evidence currently has not been shown for mammals. Egyptian fruit bats are highly flexible mammals that roost and forage in both urban and rural habitats. Urban-dwelling fruit bats encounter higher average temperatures and a richer supply of food (mainly fruit) during winter. Results Here, we set out to determine whether urban-dwelling fruit bats take advantage of urbanization and reproduce earlier in the annual cycle than rural fruit bats. We sampled ten fruit bat colonies located in different urbanization levels, over 3 years. We monitored the bats’ reproductive state and the size of the pups following parturition. Indeed, we found that urban fruit bats gave birth ~ 2.5 weeks earlier in spring than rural fruit bats. We also found that roosting in urban colonies did not decrease the bats’ reproductive success, in contrast to what has been suggested for some urban birds. Conclusions Our study provides new insights into the adaptation to urban living and its exploitation by one of the most common mammalian groups found in cities worldwide—bats. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3e2e7603a463437f9d4ea29b8204a4b6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1741-7007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-3e2e7603a463437f9d4ea29b8204a4b62025-02-02T12:42:38ZengBMCBMC Biology1741-70072025-01-0123111110.1186/s12915-025-02124-yUrban fruit bats give birth earlier in the season compared to rural fruit batsMaya Weinberg0Dean Zigdon1Mor Taub2Lee Harten3Ofri Eitan4Adi Rachum5Reut Assa6Omri Gal7Yossi Yovel8School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversitySchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversitySchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversitySchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversitySchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversitySchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversitySchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversitySchool of the Environment and Earth Science, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversitySchool of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv UniversityAbstract Background Urbanization is rapidly altering our ecosystem. While most wild species refrain from entering urban habitats, some flourish in cities and adapt to the new opportunities these offer. Urban individuals of various species have been shown to differ in physiology, morphology, and behavior compared to their rural counterparts. While several studies have suggested that urban dwelling alters the reproductive cycle in birds, such evidence currently has not been shown for mammals. Egyptian fruit bats are highly flexible mammals that roost and forage in both urban and rural habitats. Urban-dwelling fruit bats encounter higher average temperatures and a richer supply of food (mainly fruit) during winter. Results Here, we set out to determine whether urban-dwelling fruit bats take advantage of urbanization and reproduce earlier in the annual cycle than rural fruit bats. We sampled ten fruit bat colonies located in different urbanization levels, over 3 years. We monitored the bats’ reproductive state and the size of the pups following parturition. Indeed, we found that urban fruit bats gave birth ~ 2.5 weeks earlier in spring than rural fruit bats. We also found that roosting in urban colonies did not decrease the bats’ reproductive success, in contrast to what has been suggested for some urban birds. Conclusions Our study provides new insights into the adaptation to urban living and its exploitation by one of the most common mammalian groups found in cities worldwide—bats.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02124-yUrbanityFruit batsReproductionWildlifeUrbanizationAnthropocene |
| spellingShingle | Maya Weinberg Dean Zigdon Mor Taub Lee Harten Ofri Eitan Adi Rachum Reut Assa Omri Gal Yossi Yovel Urban fruit bats give birth earlier in the season compared to rural fruit bats BMC Biology Urbanity Fruit bats Reproduction Wildlife Urbanization Anthropocene |
| title | Urban fruit bats give birth earlier in the season compared to rural fruit bats |
| title_full | Urban fruit bats give birth earlier in the season compared to rural fruit bats |
| title_fullStr | Urban fruit bats give birth earlier in the season compared to rural fruit bats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban fruit bats give birth earlier in the season compared to rural fruit bats |
| title_short | Urban fruit bats give birth earlier in the season compared to rural fruit bats |
| title_sort | urban fruit bats give birth earlier in the season compared to rural fruit bats |
| topic | Urbanity Fruit bats Reproduction Wildlife Urbanization Anthropocene |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02124-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mayaweinberg urbanfruitbatsgivebirthearlierintheseasoncomparedtoruralfruitbats AT deanzigdon urbanfruitbatsgivebirthearlierintheseasoncomparedtoruralfruitbats AT mortaub urbanfruitbatsgivebirthearlierintheseasoncomparedtoruralfruitbats AT leeharten urbanfruitbatsgivebirthearlierintheseasoncomparedtoruralfruitbats AT ofrieitan urbanfruitbatsgivebirthearlierintheseasoncomparedtoruralfruitbats AT adirachum urbanfruitbatsgivebirthearlierintheseasoncomparedtoruralfruitbats AT reutassa urbanfruitbatsgivebirthearlierintheseasoncomparedtoruralfruitbats AT omrigal urbanfruitbatsgivebirthearlierintheseasoncomparedtoruralfruitbats AT yossiyovel urbanfruitbatsgivebirthearlierintheseasoncomparedtoruralfruitbats |