Phyllostomids have a nose for good food Digital endocasts of New world leaf-nosed bats indicate dietary preference
Project
ID: 000442636
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Phyllostomidae (New World leaf-nosed bats) are a diverse family with members practicing a variety of diets, including insectivory, frugivory, nectarivory, and hematophagy. This diversity of diet is reflected in their sensory systems, particularly their sense of olfaction, and is key to the success of this clade. We assess the extent to which a more specialized olfactory system can be detected in observation of the brain through digital endocasts. Such as relationship would allow for the later diagnosis of olfactory ability in bats using only the skull and computed tomography. High-resolution X-ray computed tomography (microCT) scans of the skulls of 11 species of phyllostomid, 2 mormoopids, and a pteropodid bat were used to produce digital endocasts to quantify the variation in the olfactory bulbs and make additional comparisons of the full cranial endocasts. Accurate linear and volumetric measurements of the olfactory bulbs and the remainder of the endocasts were then gathered for comparison between the selected species. Principal component analyses (PCA) show a strong separation of frugivorous, insectivorous, and hematophagous species as well as a significant difference in olfactory bulb volume. Furthermore, ancestral character state reconstructions show that a relatively large olfactory bulb may be the ancestral condition of phyllostomids. Diet can be reliably predicted from endocast measurements, thus providing a framework for further assessment of fossil or extant bats.