This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Heideman, P. D. Articles by Bronson, F. H. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Heideman, P. D. Articles by Bronson, F. H.

Seasonal reproduction of a tropical bat, Anoura geoffroyi, in relation to photoperiod

Summary. Anoura geoffroyi (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae, Glossophaginae), Geoffroy's hairy-legged long-tongued bat, were collected from September 1984 to August 1985, and these bats were found to breed seasonally in the wild on Trinidad, West Indies, at 10°N latitude. Histological examination of these samples indicated that females became pregnant in July or August, and young were born in late November or early December. The testes and epididymides were small from September to mid-April, increased threefold in weight between mid-April and late May, reached a peak weight in July, and decreased in weight in August. Spermatogenesis occurred throughout the testes of males captured from May to August. In 1990, the timing of parturition in females that gave birth in the laboratory to young conceived in the wild was similar to the timing in the field in 1984–1985. Groups of 10–13 males were subjected in the laboratory to (i) a gradually changing, civil twilight photoperiod that mimicked the natural cycle of annual change at 10°N latitude, (ii) the same gradually changing cycle of photoperiod accelerated to a six-month period, or (iii) a constant photoperiod (light 12:54 h: dark 11:06 h). These treatments began in mid-December, four months before the initiation of testicular recrudescence in the wild. In all three groups, testicular volume remained low until April, and then increased two- to threefold between late April and late June, rising to a peak in July, as occurred in the wild. Thus photoperiodic cues are not required for testicular recrudescence during the six months before peak testis size, nor is the timing of recrudescence sensitive to the accelerated pattern of photoperiodic change provided here. It is possible that other photoperiod treatments might affect reproductive timing in this species, or that other portions of the reproductive cycle are sensitive to photoperiod.

Keywords: photoperiod; tropical, seasonal breeding; bat; Phyllostomidae

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Jackson and R.T.F. Bernard Short Day Length Alone Does Not Inhibit Spermatogenesis in the Seasonally Breeding Four-Striped Field Mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio) Biol Reprod, June 1, 1999; 60(6): 1320 - 1323. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				P. D. Heideman and F.H. Bronson Sensitivity of Syrian Hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) to Amplitudes and Rates of Photoperiodic Change Typical of the Tropics J Biol Rhythms, December 1, 1993; 8(4): 325 - 337. [Abstract] [PDF]