Histiotus

{{Short description|Genus of bats}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Histiotus montanus - Gabriel Ignacio Baloriani.jpg | image_alt = Histitus macrotus | image_caption = Small big-eared brown bat (''Histiotus montanus'') | taxon = Histiotus | authority = Gervais, 1856 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = ''Histiotus alienus'' ''Histiotus cadenai'' ''Histiotus colombiae'' ''Histiotus diaphanopterus'' ''Histiotus humboldti'' ''Histiotus laephotis'' ''Histiotus macrotus'' ''Histiotus magellanicus'' ''Histiotus mochica'' ''Histiotus montanus'' ''Histiotus velatus'' | type_species = ''Plecotus velatus'' }}

'''''Histiotus''''' (meaning "sail ears") is a genus of South American vesper bats<ref name="Simmons">{{citation | last = Simmons | first = Nancy B. | contribution = Chiroptera | pages = 312–529 | title=Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference |edition=3rd | editor-last = Wilson | editor-first = Don E. | editor2-last = Reeder | editor2-first = DeeAnn M. | contribution-url = https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/browse.asp?id=13802207 | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | place = Baltimore | year=2005 | isbn = 978-0-8018-8221-0 | access-date = 2 October 2009| title-link = Mammal Species of the World }}</ref> with species that include:<ref>{{Citation|last=Mammal Diversity Database|title=Mammal Diversity Database|date=2021-08-10|doi=10.5281/zenodo.5175993 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/5175993|access-date=2021-09-17}}</ref>

In Paraguay, ''Histiotus'' bats have mainly been collected at human dwellings or around domestic animals, due to the significant increase in human activity in the Paraguayan Chaco over the last 20 years.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lopez-Gonzalez |first1=Celia |title=Ecological zoogeography of the bats of Paraguay |journal=Journal of Biogeography |date=January 2004 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=33–45 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2004.00940.x |s2cid=83482459 }}</ref>

==Habitat== ''Histiotus'' is found in the tropical and temperate zones in South America. Their natural habitat ranges from areas with rocky mountains, to woods in Paraguay, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.<ref name="Canals et al 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Canals |first1=Mauricio |last2=Grossi |first2=Bruno |last3=Iriarte-Diaz |first3=Jose |last4=Veloso |first4=Claudio |title=Biomechanical and ecological relationships of wing morphology of eight Chilean bats |journal=Revista Chilena de Historia Natural |date=29 March 2013 |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=215–227 |url=http://rchn.biologiachile.cl/en/contents/2005v78n2/5.php }}</ref>

==Behavior==

===Echolocation and feeding=== ''Histiotus'' are aerial feeders and use echolocation to catch prey. They can create echolocation calls dominated by frequencies below 20 kHz in order to catch prey. ''Histiotus'' diet consists of insects; ''H. montanus'' mainly eats butterflies and flies, ''H. macrotus'' eats flies, and ''H. velatus'' eat moths.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fenton |first1=M. Brock |last2=Whitaker Jr |first2=John O |last3=Vonhof |first3=Maarten J |last4=Waterman |first4=Jane M |last5=Pedro |first5=Wagner A |last6=Aguiar |first6=Ludmilla M.S |last7=Baumgarten |first7=Júlio E |last8=Bouchard |first8=Sylvie |last9=Faria |first9=Deborah M |last10=Portfors |first10=Christine V |last11=Rautenbach |first11=Naas I.L |last12=Scully |first12=William |last13=Zortea |first13=Marlon |title=The diet of bats from Southeastern Brazil: the relation to echolocation and foraging behaviour |journal=Revista Brasileira de Zoologia |date=1999 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=1081–1085 |doi=10.1590/S0101-81751999000400017 |doi-access=free |hdl=11449/28330 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Social systems=== Most of the species are colonial and some are considered individual. Individual systems are considered for bats that interact as one or less than ten bats.<ref name="Canals et al 2013"/> Females of most temperate zone bats form maternity colonies during summer to communally raise pups. These colonies allow individuals to reduce heat loss by forming a cluster. This is called social thermoregulation. (For more on metabolism go to: Metabolism).<ref name="Pretzlaff et al 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Pretzlaff |first1=Iris |last2=Kerth |first2=Gerald |last3=Dausmann |first3=Kathrin H. |title=Communally breeding bats use physiological and behavioural adjustments to optimise daily energy expenditure |journal=Naturwissenschaften |date=April 2010 |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=353–363 |doi=10.1007/s00114-010-0647-1 |pmid=20143039 |pmc=2841750 |bibcode=2010NW.....97..353P }}</ref>

==Flying adaptations== Flight performance is determined by wing shape and ecological aspects such as foraging behavior (the way they search for food) and habitat selection. Research showed that ''H. montanus'' and ''H. macrotus'' have high maneuverability and low speed, which corresponds to bats that inhabit wooded areas. The high maneuverability or ability to quickly alter flight direction and speed is important for bats to successfully capture prey and avoid predators.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019|reason=removed citation to predatory publisher content}}

==Respiratory and cardiovascular adaptations== Adaptation for flight involves many systems, and specifically cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Bats are considered as mammals adapted to extreme environments where oxygen management is crucial. Respiratory and cardiovascular systems undergo changes that allow the organism to optimize the acquisition and delivery of oxygen to tissues to be able to survive this extreme way of life.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019|reason=removed citation to predatory publisher content}} Research done on ''H.macrotus'' and ''H.montanus'' shows that they have the same respiratory strategy as other bats: "narrow-based high-keyed strategy." This strategy includes: # larger heart and cardiac output # high hematocrit, high hemoglobin concentration and high blood oxygen transport capacity and # optimization of respiratory structural parameters. In other words, these bats are able to make the most effective use of their respiratory structure.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Canals |first1=M. |last2=Atala |first2=C |last3=Olivares |first3=R |last4=Guajardo |first4=F |last5=Figueroa |first5=DP |last6=Sabat |first6=P |last7=Rosenmann |first7=M |title=Functional and structural optimization of the respiratory system of the bat Tadarida brasiliensis (Chiroptera, Molossidae): does airway geometry matter? |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |date=15 October 2005 |volume=208 |issue=20 |pages=3987–3995 |doi=10.1242/jeb.01817 |pmid=16215224 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Metabolism== For bats, energy demands are particularly high during pregnancy or lactation. One way many bats are able to save energy is through the use of torpor, which is a controlled, substantial drop in metabolic rate and body temperature (metabolism). In addition to hibernation (prolonged torpor) during winter, temperate zone bats, such as ''Histiotus'', often become torpid during periods of cold weather in summer (daily torpor) to save energy. By reducing metabolic rate, torpor prolongs gestation length and impairs lactation. This results in late births and slow juvenile growth rates. This reduces the probability for juveniles to survive their first winter, because not enough time has passed to store proper amounts of fat prior to hibernation. This is why females of most temperate zone bats, such as ''Histiotus'', form maternity colonies during summer to communally raise pups. These colonies allow individuals to reduce heat loss by forming a cluster and therefore by their behavior they are able to improve insulation and this results in the conservation of energy.<ref name="Pretzlaff et al 2010"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Histiotus Category:Bat genera Category:Taxa named by Paul Gervais

Histiotus

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