Guano secrets
DNA in fringe-lipped bat poop reveals unexpected eating habits
Octubre 26, 2020
The poop of Trachops cirrhosus revealed surprising results about its foraging abilities and prey preferences.
The poop of Trachops cirrhosus revealed surprising results about its foraging abilities and prey preferences.
Just as contemporary human societies depend on large-scale agriculture, leaf-cutter ants depend on a long, co-evolved relationship with a fungus. As humans, we may share some of the same rules that govern their relationship.
Reshaping her interest in science into a career in art, Amy Koehler does what she loves best in the Bat Lab
Male Wrinkle-faced bats lower a flap of skin resembling a face mask when they are ready to mate according to a rare sighting of a lek of bats in Costa Rica.
As oceans warm and become more acidic and oxygen-poor, Smithsonian researchers asked how marine life on a Caribbean coral reef copes with changing conditions.
Male Fringe-Lipped bats smear a sticky, odorous substance on their forearms. When this was discovered, researchers guessed that it might play a role in mating. Post-doctoral fellow Mariana Muñoz-Romo has confirmed that the presence and size of the forearm "crust" is, indeed correlated with other reproductive traits.
Helene Muller-Landau, staff scientist, was invited to write an authoritative review about carbon storage in forests. Her team combed through existing studies and came up with some novel conclusions of their own.
The strong relationship formed between two female adult vampire bats may have motivated one of the bats to adopt the other’s baby.
Lightning is common in the tropics, but its ecological effects in tropical forests are poorly understood. Steve Yanoviak, STRI research associate and professor at the University of Louisville, will summarize the basic physics of lightning, how we study lightning in Panama and the importance of lightning as an agent of tropical tree mortality.
Scientists think that climate change may have greater impact the largest trees in tropical forests, and the death of these giants has a major impact on the forest, but because these monumental trees are few and far between, almost nothing is known about what causes them to die.