A Genetic Analysis Of Group Movement In An Isolated Population Of Tree - Roosting Bats

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Veterinary;  Genetics
Article Date: 18 Jun 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Bats in maternity colonies roost in trees and are faithful to a group of trees.

Here we describe, for the first time, the breakup of a colony and movement from an old group of trees to a new group of trees.

We used genetic analyses of wild bats to convincingly show that maternally related females were the ones that moved.

Our results are important because they help us understand how groups of mammals move around in the wild so that we can predict how groups will respond to increasingly fragmented habitat.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high - quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

www.publishing.royalsociety.org/proceedingsb

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