Media files for "In search of bachelorettes: Observations of male Leptonycteris yerbabuenae with dorsal patches across its range"
Media files associated with the manuscript "In search of bachelorettes: Observations of male Leptonycteris yerbabuenae with dorsal patches across its range." https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-22-1146
File "Scent Marking.wmv" contains a video file in which a male lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) in the center of the frame uses his claws from his back foot to scratch his genital area (testicles and penis). He then scratches his back to transfer the genital secretions to the interscapular zone. He also occasionally licks his foot to add saliva to this mixture. This behavior results in the development of a dorsal patch which is often oily in appearance; hair loss occurs in the more advanced stages.
File "Copulation.wmv" contains a video file in which a successful lesser long-nosed bat copulation event occurs in the top center of the frame. The video begins with a female hanging on the back of a male with a dorsal patch. The male then swings on top of the female and bites the back of her neck during copulation. After mating, the female returns to the back of the male, while he cleans his penis. In over 50 filming episodes, copulations—such as this one—were only observed between females and males with dorsal patches.
These videos were recorded in November 2006 by Kathryn E. Stoner and her team of Mickaël Henry, Luis Daniel Avila-Cabadilla, Oscar M. Chaves, and Mariana Yolotl Alvarez-Añorve in a sea cave on Don Panchito Island, Chamela Bay, Jalisco, Mexico (19°30’ N, 105°03’ W).
Please send questions/comments to Theresa Laverty at theresalaverty@gmail.com and/or Kathryn Stoner at kathryn.stoner@colostate.edu