Animals keep great events in the history of their evolution. From the largest to the smallest, they configure their organism and survival skills. Among these peculiar animals is a night flyer. A masked seducer is definitely the wrinkled-faced bat, which it is removed the folded mask to mate with his female.
Bats are haunting creatures, the kings of darkness and shadows. Its activity is mainly nocturnal and for this reason it is that its observation on site it becomes more complex However, a recent study sheds light on new features and behaviors of wrinkle-faced bats.
The bat Centurio Senex It is iconic for its facial morphology that is far from other bat species. Its male specimens have a ‘mask’ of folds that give his face an oddly wrinkled appearance.
Until recently there was very limited knowledge of the behavior of the Centurio Senex. However, thanks to first study on site which analyzes the ecology of these strange but amazing mammals, we now know a little more about their echolocation Y mating behavior.
The research carried out by the University of Costa Rica and led by Dr. Bernal Rodríguez Herrera, opens up new knowledge about the wrinkled-faced bat. Over a 6-week period, the researchers located a total of 52 perches, among which recorded a mating event.
The team describe the ‘mask’ as an important part of mating among wrinkled-faced bats. Apparently, the facial mask made up of folds of excess skin in males disappears just before mating.
The male lowers his mask to mate.
In the study published in PLOS ONE, the researchers describe an encounter between a male and a female visiting the roost. Ten seconds before the female’s landing, the male had been vocalizing a courtship song.
«The male immediately lowered his mask and quickly moved into a face-to-face position with the female.»
Illustration:
Luz Angela Diaz
These haunting seducers, they remove their fold mask for mating. In addition, the researchers were also able to analyze the form of echolocation, thanks to the courtship vocalizations emitted before copulation.
It was concluded that the wrinkled-faced bat generally does not emit more than one harmonic in its vocalizations. Contrary to other species in which greater strength has been recorded in the third harmonic. According to the research, this could be because its skull is relatively shorter compared to all phyllostomid bats.
This is the first study to look at wrinkled-faced bats and sheds light for future research on these masked seducers.
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