TY - JOUR

T1 - How a pitcher plant facilitates roosting of mutualistic woolly bats

AU - Lim, Yen Shan

AU - Schöner, Caroline R.

AU - Schöner, Michael G.

AU - Kerth, Gerald

AU - Thornham, Daniel G.

AU - Scharman, Mathias

AU - Grafe, T. Ulmar

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Question: How does the pitcher plant Nepenthes hemsleyana facilitate roosting of mutualistic bats? Hypothesis: Pitchers have adaptations that match the shape and body size of small woolly bats. Organisms: The pitcher plant Nepenthes hemsleyana, its close relative N. rafflesiana, and the woolly bat Kerivoula hardwickii. Field sites: Peat swamps and heath forests in western Brunei Darussalam on the island of Borneo. Methods: We measured various morphological traits of N. hemsleyana that might facilitate bat roosting and compared them to pitchers of N. rafflesiana that is not visited by bats. We compared the size and characteristics of the pitchers with body sizes of roosting bats. Conclusions: As predicted, aerial pitchers matched the body size of bats and had lower digestive fluid levels than pitchers of a close relative. Thus, small morphological differences between closely related species have caused rapid dietary niche divergence.

AB - Question: How does the pitcher plant Nepenthes hemsleyana facilitate roosting of mutualistic bats? Hypothesis: Pitchers have adaptations that match the shape and body size of small woolly bats. Organisms: The pitcher plant Nepenthes hemsleyana, its close relative N. rafflesiana, and the woolly bat Kerivoula hardwickii. Field sites: Peat swamps and heath forests in western Brunei Darussalam on the island of Borneo. Methods: We measured various morphological traits of N. hemsleyana that might facilitate bat roosting and compared them to pitchers of N. rafflesiana that is not visited by bats. We compared the size and characteristics of the pitchers with body sizes of roosting bats. Conclusions: As predicted, aerial pitchers matched the body size of bats and had lower digestive fluid levels than pitchers of a close relative. Thus, small morphological differences between closely related species have caused rapid dietary niche divergence.

M3 - Article

VL - 16

SP - 581

EP - 591

JO - Evolutionary Ecology Research

JF - Evolutionary Ecology Research

SN - 1522-0613

ER -