PHYLLOSTOMID BATS
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The Evolution of Body Size in Noctilionoid Bats

6/12/2020

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Norberto P. Giannini, Lucila I. Amador, and R. Leticia Moyers Arévalo

Body mass is the single most important factor affecting the biology of animals. Small size is generally highly favorable for flying vertebrates; in addition to this constraint, echolocating bats are also restricted by the physics of call parameters. However, we find in a single group, the Noctilionoidea, virtually the entire size range found across all echolocating bats. Here we examine the evolutionary significance of this variation. We explore how the reconstructed body mass of the ancestral phyllostomid was inherited from noctilionoid ancestors, how size changed along the branches of the phyllostomid tree, and how size co-varied with characteristic evolutionary shifts in the ecology of phyllostomid bats. We found little change along the backbone of the phylogenetic tree and across major dietary transitions, many scattered increases and decreases of variable magnitude, and most variation concentrated in phyletic change in a few groups, especially vertebrate-specialized and frugivorous phyllostomids. These trends imply sustained selection acting over millions of years in a consistent direction, principally towards an increase in size. Initial stasis may have facilitated ecological transitions, while capacity for size change may have fueled intense directional selection within highly specialized lineages. Finally, diverging trends appear to reflect past character displacement.
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    Keywords

    All
    Adaptation
    Adaptive Radiation
    Aerodynamics
    Agribusiness
    Andes
    Animalivorous
    Basal Metabolic Rate
    Bat Conservation
    Bat Ecology
    Bat Pollination
    Behavioral Ecology
    Biodiversity
    BioGeoBEARS
    Biogeography
    Biological Diversity
    Biomechanics
    Body Size
    Brain Evolution
    Brazil
    Canines
    Cave Protection
    Chiropterophily
    Classification
    Climatic Changes
    Coevolution
    Community Ecology
    Community Structure
    Conservation
    Continuous Character Optimization
    Cooperation
    Desmodus
    Diaemus
    Diet
    Dietary Shifts
    Dietary Specialization
    Diet Selection
    Digestive Physiology
    Diphylla
    Dispersal
    Diversification
    Diversity Gradients
    Drift
    Echolocation
    Ecological Networks
    Ecological Niche Modeling
    Ecological Theory Of Adaptive Radiation
    Education
    Elastin
    Emerging Diseases
    Emerging Threats
    Evolutionary Mechanisms
    Excretory Physiology
    Extrinsic Threats
    Female Choice
    Flight
    Foraging Ecology
    Foraging Strategy
    Forest Loss
    Fossils
    Frugivory
    Generalist
    Geological Changes
    Gleaning Insectivory
    Gondwana
    Great American Interchange
    Habitat Loss
    Interaction Networks
    Intestinal Enzymes
    Kidney Structure
    Life History Theory
    Lonchorhina
    Longevity
    Male Competition
    Metabolic Physiology
    Micronycterinae
    Monestrus
    Morphology
    Movement Ecology
    Musculoskeletal
    Nectarivory
    Neotropics
    Network Science
    Neuroanatomy
    New World
    Noctilionoidea
    Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Models
    Oxidative Metabolism
    Past Character Displacement
    Phyletic Trends
    Phyllostomidae
    Phyllostominae
    Phylogenetic Constraints
    Phylogeny
    Polyestrus
    Predator
    Roost Disturbance
    Roosting Behavior
    Roosts
    Sanguinivory
    Sensory
    Sensory Systems
    Sexual Selection
    Size At Birth
    Skin
    Specialization
    Speciation
    Species Description
    Species Interactions
    Sperm Competition
    Taxonomic Discovery
    Trophic Level
    Wing Morphology
    Wings

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