Publications

sebaceous lipid profiling of bat integumentary tissues: quantitative analysis of free fatty acids, monoacylglycerides, squalene, and sterols.	white-nose syndrome (wns) is a fungal disease caused by pseudogymnoascus destructans and is devastating north american bat populations. sebaceous lipids secreted from host integumentary tissues are implicated in the initial attachment and recognition of host tissues by pathogenic fungi. we are interested in determining if ratios of lipid classes in sebum can be used as biomarkers to diagnose severity of fungal infection in bats. to first establish lipid compositions in bats, we isolated secreted ...	2013	24327437
ventilatory response to hypoxia and hypercapnia in the torpid bat, eptesicus fuscus.	ventilatory pattern and ventilatory responses to hypercapnia and hypoxia were investigated in torpid big brown bats at body temperatures of 5, 10, 20, 30 and 37 degrees c. the pattern of breathing at temperatures below 30 degrees c was intermittent, consisting of rhythmic breathing bouts separated by apneic periods with occasional sporadic, non-rhythmic breathing episodes. overall ventilation (ve) was matched consistently to overall oxygen consumption (mo2) over the entire range of temperatures ...	2013	1626140
the effect of roost sealing as a method to control maternity colonies of big brown bats.		2013	3828940
bats coordinate sonar and flight behavior as they forage in open and cluttered environments.	echolocating bats use active sensing as they emit sounds and listen to the returning echoes to probe their environment for navigation, obstacle avoidance and pursuit of prey. the sensing behavior of bats includes the planning of 3d spatial trajectory paths, which are guided by echo information. in this study, we examined the relationship between active sonar sampling and flight motor output as bats changed environments from open space to an artificial forest in a laboratory flight room. using hi ...	2014	25394632
temporal binding of neural responses for focused attention in biosonar.	big brown bats emit biosonar sounds and perceive their surroundings from the delays of echoes received by the ears. broadcasts are frequency modulated (fm) and contain two prominent harmonics sweeping from 50 to 25 khz (fm1) and from 100 to 50 khz (fm2). individual frequencies in each broadcast and each echo evoke single-spike auditory responses. echo delay is encoded by the time elapsed between volleys of responses to broadcasts and volleys of responses to echoes. if echoes have the same spectr ...	2014	25122915
animal communication: keep your wings off my food!	when foraging, male big brown bats produce ultrasonic social calls. the calls repel rival bats from the caller and its prey, and increase the caller's foraging success during their high-speed aerial excursions.	2014	24735855
encoding of head direction by hippocampal place cells in bats.	most theories of navigation rely on the concept of a mental map and compass. hippocampal place cells are neurons thought to be important for representing the mental map; these neurons become active when the animal traverses a specific location in the environment (the "place field"). head-direction cells are found outside the hippocampus, and encode the animal's head orientation, thus implementing a neural compass. the prevailing view is that the activity of head-direction cells is not tuned to a ...	2014	24431464
acute pasteurellosis in wild big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	we report acute fatal pasteurellosis in wild big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) in wisconsin, usa. mortality of approximately 100 bats was documented over 4 wk, with no evidence for predatory injuries. pasteurella multocida serotype 1 was isolated from multiple internal organs from four of five bats examined postmortem.	2014	24171580
use of pcr to identify leptospira in kidneys of big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) in kansas and nebraska, usa.	bats have been implicated as potential carriers of leptospira as a result of surveys, mostly in australia and south america. we measured the prevalence of pathogenic leptospires in kidneys of bats from kansas and nebraska. from 7 august 2012 to 21 august 2012, we extracted dna from kidneys of 98 big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) submitted and found negative for rabies. the dna was processed in a two-step, seminested pcr assay with a dual-labeled taqman probe specific for pathogenic leptospires. ...	2014	24807182
seasonal and reproductive effects on wound healing in the flight membranes of captive big brown bats.	the flight membranes of bats serve a number of physiological functions important for survival. although flight membrane injuries are commonly observed in wild-caught bats, in most cases the damage heals completely. previous studies examining wound healing in the flight membranes of bats have not taken into consideration energy constraints that could influence healing times. wound healing results in increased energy demands, therefore we hypothesized that wound healing times would be slower durin ...	2014	25527646
morphological, olfactory, and vocal development in big brown bats.	using a within subjects design, we documented morphological, bioacoustical and behavioral developmental changes in big brown bats. eptesicus fuscus pups are born naked and blind but assume an adult-like appearance by post-natal day (pnd) 45 and flight by pnd 30. adult females use spatial memory, acoustic and olfactory cues to reunite with offspring, but it is unclear if pups can recognize maternal scents. we tested the olfactory discrimination abilities of young e. fuscus pups and found they exh ...	2014	25505151
the resistance of a north american bat species (eptesicus fuscus) to white-nose syndrome (wns).	white-nose syndrome (wns) is the primary cause of over-winter mortality for little brown (myotis lucifugus), northern (myotis septentrionalis), and tricolored (perimyotis subflavus) bats, and is due to cutaneous infection with the fungus pseudogymnoascus (geomyces) destructans (pd). cutaneous infection with p. destructans disrupts torpor patterns, which is thought to lead to a premature depletion of body fat reserve. field studies were conducted at 3 wns-affected hibernation sites to determine i ...	2014	25437448
mouth gape angle has little effect on the transmitted signals of big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	bats perform high-resolution echolocation by comparing temporal and spectral features of their transmitted pulses to the received echoes. in complex environments with moving prey, dynamically adapting the transmitted pulses can increase the probability of successful target representation and interception. this study further investigates the adaptive vocal-motor strategies of big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus). during stationary target detection experiments, echolocation sounds were simultaneously ...	2014	25324095
estradiol transfer from male big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) to the reproductive and brain tissues of cohabiting females, and its action as a pheromone.	the powerful estrogen, 17β-estradiol, has been found to pass from male excretions to the reproductive organs, brain, and other tissues of cohabiting females in laboratory mice. the current studies were designed to examine whether this phenomenon also occurs in big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus), a mammal appropriate for testing cross-species generality because of its phylogenetic distance from mice. when tritiated estradiol ((3)h-e2) was administered directly on the nasal area of adult female bat ...	2014	25263951
an inordinate fondness for beetles? variation in seasonal dietary preferences of night-roosting big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	generalist species with numerous food web interactions are thought to provide stability to ecosystem dynamics; however, it is not always clear whether habitat generality translates into dietary diversity. big brown bats are common across north america and employ a flexible foraging strategy over water, dense forests, forest edges and rural and urban settings. despite this generalist use of habitat, they are paradoxically characterized as beetle specialists. however, hard carapaces may preferenti ...	2014	25187921
decoding stimulus duration from neural responses in the auditory midbrain.	neurons with responses selective for the duration of an auditory stimulus are called duration-tuned neurons (dtns). temporal specificity in their spiking suggests that one function of dtns is to encode stimulus duration; however, the efficacy of duration encoding by dtns has yet to be investigated. herein, we characterize the information content of individual cells and a population of dtns from the mammalian inferior colliculus (ic) by measuring the stimulus-specific information (ssi) and estima ...	2014	25122706
the influence of reproductive condition and concurrent environmental factors on torpor and foraging patterns in female big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	unlike many other mammals, bats in temperate regions employ short bouts of torpor throughout the reproductive period to maintain a positive energy balance. in addition to decreasing energy expenditure during the day, they typically alter foraging patterns as well. it is well known that various environmental conditions influence both torpor and foraging patterns, but studies of these factors often have focussed on one element in isolation thus it is not known how the two behaviours are collective ...	2014	24973192
dichotic sound localization properties of duration-tuned neurons in the inferior colliculus of the big brown bat.	electrophysiological studies on duration-tuned neurons (dtns) from the mammalian auditory midbrain have typically evoked spiking responses from these cells using monaural or free-field acoustic stimulation focused on the contralateral ear, with fewer studies devoted to examining the electrophysiological properties of duration tuning using binaural stimulation. because the inferior colliculus (ic) receives convergent inputs from lower brainstem auditory nuclei that process sounds from each ear, m ...	2014	24959149
spatial release from simultaneous echo masking in bat sonar.	big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) use biosonar to navigate and locate objects in their surroundings. during natural foraging, they often encounter echoes returned by a target of interest located to the front while other, often stronger, clutter echoes are returned from objects, such as vegetation, located to the sides or above. nevertheless, bats behave as if they do not suffer interference from this clutter. using a two-choice delay discrimination procedure, bats were tested for the masking eff ...	2014	24926503
echolocation behaviour of the big brown bat (eptesicus fuscus) in an obstacle avoidance task of increasing difficulty.	four big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) were challenged in an obstacle avoidance experiment to localize vertically stretched wires requiring progressively greater accuracy by diminishing the wire-to-wire distance from 50 to 10 cm. the performance of the bats decreased with decreasing gap size. the avoidance task became very difficult below a wire separation of 30 cm, which corresponds to the average wingspan of e. fuscus. two of the bats were able to pass without collisions down to a gap size of ...	2014	24902745
timing matters: sonar call groups facilitate target localization in bats.	to successfully negotiate a cluttered environment, an echolocating bat must control the timing of motor behaviors in response to dynamic sensory information. here we detail the big brown bat's adaptive temporal control over sonar call production for tracking prey, moving predictably or unpredictably, under different experimental conditions. we studied the adaptive control of vocal-motor behaviors in free-flying big brown bats, eptesicus fuscus, as they captured tethered and free-flying insects, ...	2014	24860509
large roads reduce bat activity across multiple species.	although the negative impacts of roads on many terrestrial vertebrate and bird populations are well documented, there have been few studies of the road ecology of bats. to examine the effects of large roads on bat populations, we used acoustic recorders to survey bat activity along ten 300 m transects bordering three large highways in northern california, applying a newly developed statistical classifier to identify recorded calls to the species level. nightly counts of bat passes were analyzed ...	2014	24823689
large numbers of novel mirnas originate from dna transposons and are coincident with a large species radiation in bats.	vesper bats (family vespertilionidae) experienced a rapid adaptive radiation beginning around 36 ma that resulted in the second most species-rich mammalian family (>400 species). coincident with that radiation was an initial burst of dna transposon activity that has continued into the present in some species. such extensive and recent dna transposon activity has not been seen in any other extant mammal. indeed, retrotransposon activity is much more common in all other sequenced mammal genomes. d ...	2014	24692655
social calls predict foraging success in big brown bats.	animals foraging in the dark are engaged simultaneously in prey pursuit, collision avoidance, and interactions with conspecifics, making efficient nonvisual communication essential. a variety of birds and mammals emit food-associated calls that inform, attract, or repel conspecifics (e.g.,). big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) are insectivorous aerial hawkers that may forage near conspecifics and are known to emit social calls (e.g.,). calls recorded in a foraging setting might attract (e.g.,) or ...	2014	24684936
organization and trade-off of spectro-temporal tuning properties of duration-tuned neurons in the mammalian inferior colliculus.	neurons throughout the mammalian central auditory pathway respond selectively to stimulus frequency and amplitude, and some are also selective for stimulus duration. first found in the auditory midbrain or inferior colliculus (ic), these duration-tuned neurons (dtns) provide a potential neural mechanism for encoding temporal features of sound. in this study, we investigated how having an additional neural response filter, one selective to the duration of an auditory stimulus, influences frequenc ...	2014	24572091
potential citric acid exposure and toxicity to hawaiian hoary bats (lasiurus cinereus semotus) associated with eleutherodactylus frog control.	we examined potential exposure of hawaiian hoary bats (lasiurus cinereus semotus) to citric acid, a minimum risk pesticide registered for control of invasive eleutherodactylus frog populations. hoary bats are nocturnal insectivores that roost solitarily in foliage, federally listed as endangered, and are endemic to hawaii. oral ingestion during grooming of contaminated fur appears to be the principal route by which these bats might be exposed to citric acid. we made assessments of oral toxicity, ...	2014	24526591
variability in seroprevalence of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies and associated factors in a colorado population of big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	in 2001-2005 we sampled permanently marked big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) at summer roosts in buildings at fort collins, colorado, for rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (rvna). seroprevalence was higher in adult females (17.9%, n = 2,332) than males (9.4%, n = 128; p = 0.007) or volant juveniles (10.2%, n = 738; p<0.0001). seroprevalence was lowest in a drought year with local insecticide use and highest in the year with normal conditions, suggesting that environmental stress may suppress ...	2014	24465996
high resolution acoustic measurement system and beam pattern reconstruction method for bat echolocation emissions.	measurements of the transmit beam patterns emitted by echolocating bats have previously been limited to cross-sectional planes or averaged over multiple signals using sparse microphone arrays. to date, no high-resolution measurements of individual bat transmit beams have been reported in the literature. recent studies indicate that bats may change the time-frequency structure of their calls depending on the task, and suggest that their beam patterns are more dynamic than previously thought. to i ...	2014	24437791
monaural and binaural inhibition underlying duration-tuned neurons in the inferior colliculus.	duration-tuned neurons (dtns) in the mammalian inferior colliculus (ic) arise from a combination of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs. previous research has shown that the inhibition responsible for creating dtns has a shorter latency than that of excitation and lasts longer than the stimulus duration. we used monotic and dichotic paired tone stimulation and recorded responses of dtns from the ic of the bat to assess the relative contributions of each ear in forming duration-tuned circui ...	2014	24403148
active listening in a bat cocktail party: adaptive echolocation and flight behaviors of big brown bats, eptesicus fuscus, foraging in a cluttered acoustic environment.	in their natural environment, big brown bats forage for small insects in open spaces, as well as in vegetation and in the presence of acoustic clutter. while searching and hunting for prey, bats experience sonar interference, not only from densely cluttered environments, but also from calls of conspecifics foraging in close proximity. previous work has shown that when two bats compete for a single prey item in a relatively open environment, one of the bats may go silent for extended periods of t ...	2015	26398707
effective biosonar echo-to-clutter rejection ratio in a complex dynamic scene.	biosonar guidance in a rapidly changing complex scene was examined by flying big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) through a y-shaped maze composed of rows of strongly reflective vertical plastic chains that presented the bat with left and right corridors for passage. corridors were 80-100 cm wide and 2-4 m long. using the two-choice y-shaped paradigm to compensate for left-right bias and spatial memory, a moveable, weakly reflective thin-net barrier randomly blocked the left or right corridor, inte ...	2015	26328724
using sutures to attach miniature tracking tags to small bats for multimonth movement and behavioral studies.	determining the detailed movements of individual animals often requires them to carry tracking devices, but tracking broad-scale movement of small bats (<30 g) has been limited by transmitter technology and long-term attachment methods. this limitation inhibits our understanding of bat dispersal and migration, particularly in the context of emerging conservation issues such as fatalities at wind turbines and diseases. we tested a novel method of attaching lightweight global positioning system (g ...	2015	26306181
contaminants of emerging concern in bats from the northeastern united states.	we analyzed bat carcasses (myotis lucifugus, m. sodalis, m. septentrionalis, and eptesicus fuscus) from the northeastern united states for contaminants of emerging concern (cecs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbdes), and pharmaceuticals and personal care products. the cecs detected most frequently in samples were pbdes (100 %), salicylic acid (81 %), thiabendazole (50 %), and caffeine (23 %). other compounds detected in at least 15 % of bat samples were digoxigenin, ibuprofen, warfarin ...	2015	26245185
tempo and mode of antibat ultrasound production and sonar jamming in the diverse hawkmoth radiation.	the bat-moth arms race has existed for over 60 million y, with moths evolving ultrasonically sensitive ears and ultrasound-producing organs to combat bat predation. the evolution of these defenses has never been thoroughly examined because of limitations in simultaneously conducting behavioral and phylogenetic analyses across an entire group. hawkmoths include >1,500 species worldwide, some of which produce ultrasound using genital stridulatory structures. however, the function and evolution of ...	2015	25941377
somatosensory substrates of flight control in bats.	flight maneuvers require rapid sensory integration to generate adaptive motor output. bats achieve remarkable agility with modified forelimbs that serve as airfoils while retaining capacity for object manipulation. wing sensory inputs provide behaviorally relevant information to guide flight; however, components of wing sensory-motor circuits have not been analyzed. here, we elucidate the organization of wing innervation in an insectivore, the big brown bat, eptesicus fuscus. we demonstrate that ...	2015	25937277
hepatic lipidosis in a research colony of big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	during a nearby construction project, a sudden decrease in food intake and guano production occurred in an outdoor colony of big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus), and one animal was found dead. investigation revealed that the project was generating a large amount of noise and vibration, which disturbed the bats' feeding. consequently the bats were moved into an indoor enclosure away from the construction noises, and the colony resumed eating. over the next 3 wk, additional animals presented with cl ...	2015	25926399
the aerodynamic cost of head morphology in bats: maybe not as bad as it seems.	at first sight, echolocating bats face a difficult trade-off. as flying animals, they would benefit from a streamlined geometric shape to reduce aerodynamic drag and increase flight efficiency. however, as echolocating animals, their pinnae generate the acoustic cues necessary for navigation and foraging. moreover, species emitting sound through their nostrils often feature elaborate noseleaves that help in focussing the emitted echolocation pulses. both pinnae and noseleaves reduce the streamli ...	2015	25739038
moth tails divert bat attack: evolution of acoustic deflection.	adaptations to divert the attacks of visually guided predators have evolved repeatedly in animals. using high-speed infrared videography, we show that luna moths (actias luna) generate an acoustic diversion with spinning hindwing tails to deflect echolocating bat attacks away from their body and toward these nonessential appendages. we pit luna moths against big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) and demonstrate a survival advantage of ∼ 47% for moths with tails versus those that had their tails remo ...	2015	25730869
two recently sequenced vertebrate genomes are contaminated with apicomplexan species of the sarcocystidae family.	this paper highlights a general problem, namely that host genome sequences can easily be contaminated with parasite sequences, thus careful isolation of genetic material and careful bioinformatics analysis are needed in all cases. two recently published genomes are shown here to be contaminated with sequences of apicomplexan parasites which belong to the sarcocystidae family. sequences of the characteristic apicomplexan organelle, the apicoplast, were used as queries in blastn searches against n ...	2015	26264549
novel cryptosporidium bat genotypes iii and iv in bats from the usa and czech republic.	bats from the families rhinolophidae (n = 90) and vespertilionidae (n = 191) in the usa and czech republic were screened for the presence of cryptosporidium by microscopic and molecular analysis of faecal samples collected from rectum of dissected animals and from the ground beneath roosting sites. cryptosporidium oocysts were not detected in any of the 281 faecal specimens examined using the aniline-carbol-methyl violet staining method. nested pcr amplification, sequencing and phylogenetic anal ...	2015	26255170
efficacy of visual surveys for white-nose syndrome at bat hibernacula.	white-nose syndrome (wns) is an epizootic disease in hibernating bats caused by the fungus pseudogymnoascus destructans. surveillance for p. destructans at bat hibernacula consists primarily of visual surveys of bats, collection of potentially infected bats, and submission of these bats for laboratory testing. cryptic infections (bats that are infected but display no visual signs of fungus) could lead to the mischaracterization of the infection status of a site and the inadvertent spread of p. d ...	2015	26197236
rabies surveillance among bats in tennessee, usa, 1996-2010.	rabies virus (rabv) infects multiple bat species in the americas, and enzootic foci perpetuate in bats principally via intraspecific transmission. in recent years, bats have been implicated in over 90% of human rabies cases in the us. in tennessee, two human cases of rabies have occurred since 1960: one case in 1994 associated with a tricolored bat (perimyotis subflavus) rabv variant and another in 2002 associated with the tricolored/silver-haired bat (p. subflavus/lasionycteris noctivagans) rab ...	2015	26251992
tight coordination of aerial flight maneuvers and sonar call production in insectivorous bats.	echolocating bats face the challenge of coordinating flight kinematics with the production of echolocation signals used to guide navigation. previous studies of bat flight have focused on kinematics of fruit and nectar-feeding bats, often in wind tunnels with limited maneuvering, and without analysis of echolocation behavior. in this study, we engaged insectivorous big brown bats in a task requiring simultaneous turning and climbing flight, and used synchronized high-speed motion-tracking camera ...	2015	26582935
dynamic echo information guides flight in the big brown bat.	animals rely on sensory feedback from their environment to guide locomotion. for instance, visually guided animals use patterns of optic flow to control their velocity and to estimate their distance to objects (e.g., srinivasan et al., 1991, 1996). in this study, we investigated how acoustic information guides locomotion of animals that use hearing as a primary sensory modality to orient and navigate in the dark, where visual information is unavailable. we studied flight and echolocation behavio ...	2016	27199690
claudin gene expression patterns do not associate with interspecific differences in paracellular nutrient absorption.	bats exhibit higher paracellular absorption of glucose-sized molecules than non-flying mammals, a phenomenon that may be driven by higher permeability of the intestinal tight junctions. the various claudins, occludin, and other proteins making up the tight junctions are thought to determine their permeability properties. here we show that absorption of the paracellular probe l-arabinose is higher in a bat (eptesicus fuscus) than in a vole (microtus pennsylvanicus) or a hedgehog (atelerix albiven ...	2016	26393434
generation and characterization of eptesicus fuscus (big brown bat) kidney cell lines immortalized using the myotis polyomavirus large t-antigen.	it is speculated that bats are important reservoir hosts for numerous viruses, with 27 viral families reportedly detected in bats. majority of these viruses have not been isolated and there is little information regarding their biology in bats. establishing a well-characterized bat cell line supporting the replication of bat-borne viruses would facilitate the analysis of virus-host interactions in an in vitro model. currently, few bat cell lines have been developed and only tb1-lu, derived from ...	2016	27639955
broad and temperature independent replication potential of filoviruses on cells derived from old and new world bat species.	filoviruses are strongly associated with several species of bats as their natural reservoirs. in this study, we determined the replication potential of all filovirus species: marburg marburgvirus, taï forest ebolavirus, reston ebolavirus, sudan ebolavirus, zaire ebolavirus, and bundibugyo ebolavirus. filovirus replication was supported by all cell lines derived from 6 old and new world bat species: the hammer-headed fruit bat, buettikofer's epauletted fruit bat, the egyptian fruit bat, the jamai ...	2016	27354372
overwintering of rabies virus in silver haired bats (lasionycteris noctivagans).	silver-haired bats, (lasionycteris noctivagans) are semi-colonial, migratory tree bats that have infrequent contact with humans. despite the species rarity, the l. noctivagans rabies variant is the most commonly reported rabies virus variant (rabv) in domestically acquired human rabies cases in the us. unlike big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) and little brown bats (myotis lucifugus), l. noctivagans are not considered true hibernators. it is unknown if rabv can overwinter in hibernating l. noctiv ...	2016	27195489
molecular detection of pseudogymnoascus destructans (ascomycota: pseudeurotiaceae) and unidentified fungal dermatitides on big brown bats ( eptesicus fuscus ) overwintering inside buildings in canada.	big brown bats ( eptesicus fuscus ) overwintering outside the underground environment are not believed to play a role in the epidemiology of the disease white-nose syndrome (wns), caused by the fungus pseudogymnoascus destructans (pd). using quantitative real-time pcr (qpcr), we provide molecular evidence for pd on four big brown bats overwintering in heated buildings in new brunswick, canada. two of the affected individuals also had very mild, focal, pustular, fungal dermatitis identified micro ...	2016	27458830
detection of pseudogymnoascus destructans on free-flying male bats captured during summer in the southeastern usa.	pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causal agent of white-nose syndrome (wns), is commonly found on bats captured both inside and outside caves during hibernation, a time when bats are most vulnerable to infection. it has not been documented in the southeast us on bats captured outside caves or on the landscape in summer. we collected 136 skin swabs from 10 species of bats captured at 20 sites on the tennessee side of great smoky mountains national park, 12 may-16 august 2015. three swabs were fou ...	2016	27434413
environment, host, and fungal traits predict continental-scale white-nose syndrome in bats.	white-nose syndrome is a fungal disease killing bats in eastern north america, but disease is not seen in european bats and is less severe in some north american species. we show that how bats use energy during hibernation and fungal growth rates under different environmental conditions can explain how some bats are able to survive winter with infection and others are not. our study shows how simple but nonlinear interactions between fungal growth and bat energetics result in decreased survival ...	2016	27152322
the effects of cutaneous fatty acids on the growth of pseudogymnoascus destructans, the etiological agent of white-nose syndrome (wns).	white nose syndrome (wns) greatly increases the over-winter mortality of little brown (myotis lucifugus), indiana (myotis sodalis), northern (myotis septentrionalis), and tricolored (perimyotis subflavus) bats. it is caused by a cutaneous infection with the fungus pseudogymnoascus destructans (pd). big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) are much more resistant to cutaneous infection with pd, however. we thus conducted analyses of wing epidermis from hibernating e. fuscus and m. lucifugus to determine ...	2016	27070905
echolocation behavior in big brown bats is not impaired after intense broadband noise exposures.	echolocating bats emit trains of intense ultrasonic biosonar pulses and listen to weaker echoes returning from objects in their environment. identification and categorization of echoes are crucial for orientation and prey capture. bats are social animals and often fly in groups in which they are exposed to their own emissions and to those from other bats, as well as to echoes from multiple surrounding objects. sound pressure levels in these noisy conditions can exceed 110 db, with no obvious del ...	2016	27510961
seasonal variations in auditory processing in the inferior colliculus of eptesicus fuscus.	eptesicus fuscus is typical of temperate zone bats in that both sexes undergo marked seasonal changes in behavior, endocrine status, and reproductive status. acoustic communication plays a key role in many seasonal behaviors. for example, males emit specialized vocalizations during mating in the fall, and females use different specialized vocalizations to communicate with infants in late spring. bats of both sexes use echolocation for foraging during times of activity, but engage in little sound ...	2016	27473507
morphology and deflection properties of bat wing sensory hairs: scanning electron microscopy, laser scanning vibrometry, and mechanics model.	bat wings are highly adaptive airfoils that enable demanding flight maneuvers, which are performed with astonishing robustness under turbulent conditions, and stability at slow flight velocities. the bat wing is sparsely covered with microscopically small, sensory hairs that are associated with tactile receptors. in a previous study we demonstrated that bat wing hairs are involved in sensing airflow for improved flight maneuverability. here, we report physical measurements of these hairs and the ...	2016	27545727
sub-lethal effects of chlorpyrifos on big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	we determined dose-response curves for sublethal effects of the organophosphorus (op) insecticide, chlorpyrifos, on bats. big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus, n = 64) were given a single dose of chlorpyrifos (nominal concentrations) of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, or 60 µg/g body weight and examined at 12 or 24 h after dosing. a second experiment dosed 32 bats with 0 or 60 µg/g body weight and examined 1, 3, 7, or 14 days after dosing. skin temperature and behavioral changes were recorded, and brain a ...	2016	27491870
echolocating big brown bats, eptesicus fuscus, modulate pulse intervals to overcome range ambiguity in cluttered surroundings.	big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) emit trains of brief, wideband frequency-modulated (fm) echolocation sounds and use echoes of these sounds to orient, find insects, and guide flight through vegetation. they are observed to emit sounds that alternate between short and long inter-pulse intervals (ipis), forming sonar sound groups. the occurrence of these strobe groups has been linked to flight in cluttered acoustic environments, but how exactly bats use sonar sound groups to orient and navigate i ...	2016	27445723
identification of secreted and membrane-bound bat immunoglobulin using a microchiropteran-specific mouse monoclonal antibody.	bat immunity has received increasing attention because some bat species are being decimated by the fungal disease, white nose syndrome, while other species are potential reservoirs of zoonotic viruses. identifying specific immune processes requires new specific tools and reagents. in this study, we describe a new mouse monoclonal antibody (mab) reactive with eptesicus fuscus immunoglobulins. the epitope recognized by mab bt1-4f10 was localized to immunoglobulin light (lambda) chains; hence, the ...	2016	27377583
effects of inertial power and inertial force on bat wings.	the inertial power and inertial force of wings are important factors in evaluating the flight performance of native bats. based on measurement data of wing size and motions of eptesicus fuscus, we present a new computational bat wing model with divided fragments of skeletons and membrane. the motions of the model were verified by comparing the joint and tip trajectories with native bats. the influences of flap, sweep, elbow, wrist and digits motions, the effects of different bones and membrane o ...	2016	27268977
target shape perception and clutter rejection use the same mechanism in bat sonar.	big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) emit frequency-modulated (fm) biosonar sounds containing two or more harmonic sweeps. echoes from frontally located targets arrive with first and second harmonics intact, leading to focused delay images. echoes from offside or distant objects arrive with the second harmonic relatively weaker (lowpass-filtered), leading to defocused images, which prevents their clutter interference effects (bates et al. j exp biol 214:394-401, 2011). realistic targets contain sev ...	2016	27041334
broadband noise exposure does not affect hearing sensitivity in big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	in many vertebrates, exposure to intense sounds under certain stimulus conditions can induce temporary threshold shifts that reduce hearing sensitivity. susceptibility to these hearing losses may reflect the relatively quiet environments in which most of these species have evolved. echolocating big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) live in extremely intense acoustic environments in which they navigate and forage successfully, both alone and in company with other bats. we hypothesized that bats may h ...	2016	27030779
relationships between host body condition and immunocompetence, not host sex, best predict parasite burden in a bat-helminth system.	sex-biased parasitism highlights potentially divergent approaches to parasite resistance resulting in differing energetic trade-offs for males and females; however, trade-offs between immunity and self-maintenance could also depend on host body condition. we investigated these relationships in the big brown bat, eptesicus fuscus, to determine if host sex or body condition better predicted parasite resistance, if testosterone levels predicted male parasite burdens, and if immune parameters could ...	2016	26898834
midbrain auditory selectivity to natural sounds.	this study investigated auditory stimulus selectivity in the midbrain superior colliculus (sc) of the echolocating bat, an animal that relies on hearing to guide its orienting behaviors. multichannel, single-unit recordings were taken across laminae of the midbrain sc of the awake, passively listening big brown bat, eptesicus fuscus. species-specific frequency-modulated (fm) echolocation sound sequences with dynamic spectrotemporal features served as acoustic stimuli along with artificial sound ...	2016	26884152
real-time pcr assay to detect brown marmorated stink bug, halyomorpha halys (stål), in environmental dna.	early detection before establishment and identification of key predators are time-honored strategies towards effective eradication or control of invasive species. the brown marmorated stink bug (bmsb), halyomorpha halys, is a recent exotic pest of several important crops in north america and europe. resulting widespread applications of insecticides have countered years of careful integrated pest management and are leading to the resurgence of other agricultural pests. environmental dna (edna) ha ...	2016	26732613
gene structure and evolution of transthyretin in the order chiroptera.	bats are mammals in the order chiroptera. although many extensive morphologic and molecular genetics analyses have been attempted, phylogenetic relationships of bats has not been completely resolved. the paraphyly of microbats is of particular controversy that needs to be confirmed. in this study, we attempted to use the nucleotide sequence of transthyretin (ttr) intron 1 to resolve the relationship among bats. to explore its utility, the complete sequences of ttr gene and intron 1 region of bat ...	2016	26681450
big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) emit intense search calls and fly in stereotyped flight paths as they forage in the wild.	the big brown bat, eptesicus fuscus, uses echolocation for orientation and foraging, and scans its surroundings by aiming its sonar beam at obstacles and prey. all call parameters are highly adaptable and determine the bat's acoustic field of view and hence its perception of the echo scene. the intensity (source level) and directionality of the emitted calls directly contribute to the bat's acoustic field of view; however, the source level and directionality of the big brown bat's sonar signals ...	2016	26596537
two distinct representations of social vocalizations in the basolateral amygdala.	acoustic communication signals carry information related to the types of social interactions by means of their "acoustic context," the sequencing and temporal emission pattern of vocalizations. here we describe responses to natural vocal sequences in adult big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus). we first assessed how vocal sequences modify the internal affective state of a listener (via heart rate). the heart rate of listening bats was differentially modulated by vocal sequences, showing significantl ...	2016	26538612
viremia in north american mammals and birds after experimental infection with chikungunya viruses.	chikungunya virus (chikv) is an arthropod-borne virus, which is known to cause severe disease only in humans. to investigate its potential zoonotic host range and evaluate reservoir competence among these hosts, experimental infections were performed on individuals from nine avian and 12 mammalian species representing both domestic and wild animals common to north america. hamsters and inbred mice have previously been shown to develop viremia after inoculation with chikv and were used as positiv ...	2016	26666699
big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) reveal diverse strategies for sonar target tracking in clutter.	bats actively adjust the acoustic features of their sonar calls to control echo information specific to a given task and environment. a previous study investigated how bats adapted their echolocation behavior when tracking a moving target in the presence of a stationary distracter at different distances and angular offsets. the use of only one distracter, however, left open the possibility that a bat could reduce the interference of the distracter by turning its head. here, bats tracked a moving ...	2016	27914429
functional role of airflow-sensing hairs on the bat wing.	the wing membrane of the big brown bat (eptesicus fuscus) is covered by a sparse grid of microscopic hairs. we showed previously that various tactile receptors (e.g., lanceolate endings and merkel cell neurite complexes) are associated with wing-hair follicles. furthermore, we found that depilation of these hairs decreased the maneuverability of bats in flight. in the present study, we investigated whether somatosensory signals arising from the hairs carry information about airflow parameters. n ...	2017	27852729
big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) maintain hearing sensitivity after exposure to intense band-limited noise.	thresholds to short-duration narrowband frequency-modulated (fm) sweeps were measured in six big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) in a two-alternative forced choice passive listening task before and after exposure to band-limited noise (lower and upper frequencies between 10 and 50 khz, 1 h, 116-119 db sound pressure level root mean square; sound exposure level 152 db). at recovery time points of 2 and 5 min post-exposure, thresholds varied from -4 to +4 db from pre-exposure threshold estimates. th ...	2017	28372082
chirosurveillance: the use of native bats to detect invasive agricultural pests.	invasive insect pests cost the agricultural industry billions of dollars annually in crop losses. timely detection of pests is critical for management efficiency. innovative pest detection strategies, such as environmental dna (edna) techniques, combined with efficient predators, maximize sampling resolution across space and time and may improve surveillance. we tested the hypothesis that temperate insectivorous bats can be important sentinels of agricultural insect pest surveillance. specifical ...	2017	28355216
hung out to dry? intraspecific variation in water loss in a hibernating bat.	hibernation is a period of water deficit for some small mammals, and humidity strongly influences hibernation patterns. dry conditions reduce length of torpor bouts, stimulate arousals, and decrease overwinter survival. to mitigate these effects, many small mammals hibernate in near saturated (100% rh) conditions. however, big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) hibernate in a wider variety of conditions and tolerate lower humidity than most other bats. to assess arid tolerance in this species, we com ...	2017	28213638
progesterone transfer among cohabitating female big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	experiments using female mice and bats have demonstrated that tritium-labeled 17β-estradiol ((3)h-e2) can be absorbed via cutaneous and intranasal routes and distributed to reproductive and neural tissues. radioactivity has also been measured in tissues of untreated females after 48h cohabitation with (3)h-e2 injected males. the present study was designed to quantify steroid transfer among female bats. radioactive quantification via liquid scintillation counting revealed absorption of tritium-la ...	2017	28185935
frequency tuning of synaptic inhibition underlying duration-tuned neurons in the mammalian inferior colliculus.	inhibition plays an important role in creating the temporal response properties of duration-tuned neurons (dtns) in the mammalian inferior colliculus (ic). neurophysiological and computational studies indicate that duration selectivity in the ic is created through the convergence of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs offset in time. we used paired-tone stimulation and extracellular recording to measure the frequency tuning of the inhibition acting on dtns in the ic of the big brown bat (e ...	2017	28100657
prevalence and distribution of pseudogymnoascus destructans in michigan bats submitted for rabies surveillance.	since 2006, bat populations in north america have suffered devastating mortality from an emerging disease known as white-nose syndrome (wns). the causal agent of wns is the fungus pseudogymnoascus destructans. in april 2014, wns was discovered in little brown bats ( myotis lucifugus ) in michigan, and has since been documented in 12 counties. because current surveillance for wns focuses primarily on mine-hibernating species in winter, it is subject geographic, species, and seasonal bias. to inve ...	2017	28318379
speed-dependent modulation of wing muscle recruitment intensity and kinematics in two bat species.	animals respond to changes in power requirements during locomotion by modulating the intensity of recruitment of their propulsive musculature, but many questions concerning how muscle recruitment varies with speed across modes of locomotion remain unanswered. we measured average muscle recruitment intensity (aemg) for pectoralis major and biceps brachii at different flight speeds in two relatively distantly related bat species: the aerial insectivore eptesicus fuscus, and the primarily fruit eat ...	2017	28235906
a persistently infecting coronavirus in hibernating myotis lucifugus, the north american little brown bat.	bats are important reservoir hosts for emerging viruses, including coronaviruses that cause diseases in people. although there have been several studies on the pathogenesis of coronaviruses in humans and surrogate animals, there is little information on the interactions of these viruses with their natural bat hosts. we detected a coronavirus in the intestines of 53/174 hibernating little brown bats (myotis lucifugus), as well as in the lungs of some of these individuals. interestingly, the prese ...	2017	28840816
energy conserving thermoregulatory patterns and lower disease severity in a bat resistant to the impacts of white-nose syndrome.	the devastating bat fungal disease, white-nose syndrome (wns), does not appear to affect all species equally. to experimentally determine susceptibility differences between species, we exposed hibernating naïve little brown myotis (myotis lucifugus) and big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) to the fungus that causes wns, pseudogymnoascus destructans (pd). after hibernating under identical conditions, pd lesions were significantly more prevalent and more severe in little brown myotis. this species di ...	2017	28597237
the phylogeography of myotis bat-associated rabies viruses across canada.	as rabies in carnivores is increasingly controlled throughout much of the americas, bats are emerging as a significant source of rabies virus infection of humans and domestic animals. knowledge of the bat species that maintain rabies is a crucial first step in reducing this public health problem. in north america, several bat species are known to be rabies virus reservoirs but the role of bats of the myotis genus has been unclear due to the scarcity of laboratory confirmed cases and the challeng ...	2017	28542160
first report of bats (mammalia: chiroptera) from the gray fossil site (late miocene or early pliocene), tennessee, usa.	thousands of vertebrate fossils have been recovered from the gray fossil site, tennessee, dating to the miocene-pliocene boundary. among these are but eight specimens of bats representing two different taxa referable to the family vespertilionidae. comparison of the fossils with neogene and quaternary bats reveals that seven of the eight specimens pertain to a species of eptesicus that cannot be distinguished from recent north american eptesicus fuscus. the remaining specimen, a horizontal ramus ...	2017	28462055
comparative analysis of landscape effects on spatial genetic structure of the big brown bat and one of its cimicid ectoparasites.	identification of landscape features that correlate with genetic structure permits understanding of factors that may influence gene flow in a species. comparing effects of the landscape on a parasite and host provides potential insights into parasite-host ecology. we compared fine-scale spatial genetic structure between big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) and their cimicid ectoparasite (cimex adjunctus; class insecta) in the lower great lakes region of the united states, in an area of about 160,00 ...	2017	29075444
protection of bats (eptesicus fuscus) against rabies following topical or oronasal exposure to a recombinant raccoon poxvirus vaccine.	rabies is an ancient neglected tropical disease that causes tens of thousands of human deaths and millions of cattle deaths annually. in order to develop a new vaccine for potential use in bats, a reservoir of rabies infection for humans and animals alike, an in silico antigen designer tool was used to create a mosaic glycoprotein (mog) gene using available sequences from the rabies phylogroup i glycoprotein. this sequence, which represents strains more likely to occur in bats, was cloned into r ...	2017	28976983
echolocating bats rely on audiovocal feedback to adapt sonar signal design.	many species of bat emit acoustic signals and use information carried by echoes reflecting from nearby objects to navigate and forage. it is widely documented that echolocating bats adjust the features of sonar calls in response to echo feedback; however, it remains unknown whether audiovocal feedback contributes to sonar call design. audiovocal feedback refers to the monitoring of one's own vocalizations during call production and has been intensively studied in nonecholocating animals. audiovo ...	2017	28973851
in vivo efficacy of a cocktail of human monoclonal antibodies (cl184) against diverse north american bat rabies virus variants.	following rabies virus (rabv) exposure, a combination of thorough wound washing, multiple-dose vaccine administration and the local infiltration of rabies immune globulin (rig) are essential components of modern post-exposure prophylaxis (pep). although modern cell-culture-based rabies vaccines are increasingly used in many countries, rig is much less available. the prohibitive cost of polyclonal serum rig products has prompted a search for alternatives and design of anti-rabv monoclonal antibod ...	2017	30270905
bat wing biometrics: using collagen-elastin bundles in bat wings as a unique individual identifier.	the ability to recognize individuals within an animal population is fundamental to conservation and management. identification of individual bats has relied on artificial marking techniques that may negatively affect the survival and alter the behavior of individuals. biometric systems use biological characteristics to identify individuals. the field of animal biometrics has expanded to include recognition of individuals based upon various morphologies and phenotypic variations including pelage ...	2017	29674784
the effects of epidermal fatty acid profiles, 1-oleoglycerol, and triacylglycerols on the susceptibility of hibernating bats to pseudogymnoascus destructans.	white nose syndrome (wns) greatly increases the over-winter mortality of little brown (myotis lucifugus), indiana (m. sodalis), northern (m. septentrionalis), and tricolored (perimyotis subflavus) bats, and is caused by cutaneous infections with pseudogymnoascus destructans (pd). big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) are highly resistant to pd infections. seven different fatty acids (myristic, pentadecanoic, palmitic, palmitoleic, oleic, and, linoleic acids) occur in the wing epidermis of both m. lu ...	2017	29077745
noise interference with echo delay discrimination in bat biosonar.	echolocating big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) were trained in a two-choice task to discriminate differences in the delay of electronic echoes at 1.7 ms delay (30 cm simulated range). difference thresholds (∼45 μs) were comparable to previously published results. at selected above-threshold differences (116 and 232 μs delay), performance was measured in the presence of wideband random noise at increasing amplitudes in 10-db steps to determine the noise level that prevented discrimination. perfor ...	2017	29195421
age-dependent gene expression in the inner ear of big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus).	for echolocating bats, hearing is essential for survival. specializations for detecting and processing high frequency sounds are apparent throughout their auditory systems. recent studies on echolocating mammals have reported evidence of parallel evolution in some hearing-related genes in which distantly related groups of echolocating animals (bats and toothed whales), cluster together in gene trees due to apparent amino acid convergence. however, molecular adaptations can occur not only in codi ...	2017	29073148
functional organization and dynamic activity in the superior colliculus of the echolocating bat, eptesicus fuscus.	sensory-guided behaviors require the transformation of sensory information into task-specific motor commands. prior research on sensorimotor integration has emphasized visuomotor processes in the context of simplified orienting movements in controlled laboratory tasks rather than an animal's more complete, natural behavioral repertoire. here, we conducted a series of neural recording experiments in the midbrain superior colliculus (sc) of echolocating bats engaged in a sonar target-tracking task ...	2018	29180610
seasonal and sexual variation in metabolism, thermoregulation, and hormones in the big brown bat (eptesicus fuscus).	in response to seasonal variation in energy availability and thermal environment, physiological and endocrine mechanisms have evolved in temperate zone animals. seasonal changes in hormone activity affect metabolism, body temperature, and reproductive activity. we examined the seasonal regulatory role of hormones on basal metabolic rate (bmr) and regulatory nonshivering thermogenesis (rnst) in 98 female and 17 male adult eptesicus fuscus (big brown bat). we measured bmr, rnst, and plasma levels ...	2018	29155610
echo interval and not echo intensity drives bat flight behavior in structured corridors.	to navigate in the natural environment, animals must adapt their locomotion in response to environmental stimuli. the echolocating bat relies on auditory processing of echo returns to represent its surroundings. recent studies have shown that echo flow patterns influence bat navigation, but the acoustic basis for flight path selection remains unknown. to investigate this problem, we released bats in a flight corridor with walls constructed of adjacent individual wooden poles, which returned casc ...	2018	30355612
big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) successfully navigate through clutter after exposure to intense band-limited sound.	echolocating big brown bats fly, orient, forage, and roost in cluttered acoustic environments in which aggregate sound pressure levels can be as intense as 100 to 140 db spl, levels that would impair auditory perception in other terrestrial mammals. we showed previously that bats exposed to intense wide-band sound (116 db spl) can navigate successfully through dense acoustic clutter. here, we extend these results by quantifying performance of bats navigating through a cluttered scene after expos ...	2018	30201987
3d hippocampal place field dynamics in free-flying echolocating bats.	a large body of laboratory research has investigated the process by which environmental cues are acquired and used for spatial navigation in rodents; however, the key to differentiating between species specializations and general principles lies in comparative research. rodent research has focused on a class of neurons in the hippocampus implicated in the representation of allocentric space - termed place cells - and the process by which these representations form. one class of models of hippoca ...	2018	30190673
echolocation and flight behavior of the bat hipposideros armiger terasensis in a structured corridor.	in this study, the echolocation and flight behaviors of the taiwanese leaf-nosed bat (hipposideros armiger terasensis), which uses constant-frequency (cf) biosonar signals combined with a frequency-modulated (fm) sweep, are compared with those of the big brown bat (eptesicus fuscus), which uses fm signals alone. the cf-fm bat flew through a corridor bounded by vertical poles on either side, and the inter-pole spacing of the walls was manipulated to create different echo flow conditions. the bat' ...	2018	30180698
fireflies thwart bat attack with multisensory warnings.	many defended animals prevent attacks by displaying warning signals that are highly conspicuous to their predators. we hypothesized that bioluminescing fireflies, widely known for their vibrant courtship signals, also advertise their noxiousness to echolocating bats. to test this postulate, we pit naïve big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) against chemically defended fireflies (photinus pyralis) to examine whether and how these beetles transmit salient warnings to bats. we demonstrate that these no ...	2018	30140743
early erratic flight response of the lucerne moth to the quiet echolocation calls of distant bats.	nocturnal insects have evolved ultrasound-sensitive hearing in response to predation pressures from echolocating insectivorous bats. flying tympanate moths take various evasive actions when they detect bat cries, including turning away, performing a steering/zigzagging flight and ceasing flight. in general, infrequent ultrasonic pulses with low sound intensities that are emitted by distant bats evoke slight turns, whereas frequent and loud ultrasonic pulses of nearby bats evoke erratic or rapid ...	2018	30125318
adaptive sonar call timing supports target tracking in echolocating bats.	echolocating bats dynamically adapt the features of their sonar calls as they approach obstacles and track targets. as insectivorous bats forage, they increase sonar call rate with decreasing prey distance, and often embedded in bat insect approach sequences are clusters of sonar sounds, termed sonar sound groups (ssgs). the bat's production of ssgs has been observed in both field and laboratory conditions, and is hypothesized to sharpen spatiotemporal sonar resolution. when insectivorous bats h ...	2018	29997156
natural echolocation sequences evoke echo-delay selectivity in the auditory midbrain of the fm bat, eptesicus fuscus.	echolocating bats must process temporal streams of sonar sounds to represent objects along the range axis. neuronal echo-delay tuning, the putative mechanism of sonar ranging, has been characterized in the inferior colliculus (ic) of the mustached bat, an insectivorous species that produces echolocation calls consisting of constant frequency and frequency modulated (fm) components, but not in species that use fm signals alone. this raises questions about the mechanisms that give rise to echo-del ...	2018	29924708
tuning for rate and duration of frequency-modulated sweeps in the mammalian inferior colliculus.	responses of auditory duration-tuned neurons (dtns) are selective for stimulus duration. we used single-unit extracellular recording to investigate how the inferior colliculus (ic) encodes frequency-modulated (fm) sweeps in the big brown bat. it was unclear whether the responses of so-called "fm dtns" encode signal duration, like classic pure-tone dtns, or the fm sweep rate. most fm cells had spiking responses selective for downward fm sweeps. we presented cells with linear fm sweeps whose cente ...	2018	29790835