Midnight's children?: Solitary primates and gregarious chiropterans
Publication Type:
Journal ArticlesSource:
Current Science, Volume 89, Number 7, p.1208–1213 (2005)URL:
http://eprints.nias.res.in/17/Keywords:
Bats, gregarious, nocturnal, primates, social organization, solitaryAbstract:
Some primate species exhibit a solitary social organization. Among several ecological and biological parameters that have been forwarded as correlates of a solitary lifestyle, a nocturnal activity cycle is considered an important determinant. However, several species of megachiropterans, a mammalian group that is completely nocturnal, live in large multimale???multifemale groups. A comparative review of primate and megachiropteran behavioural adaptations shows that megachiropterans do not exhibit the expected correlates of a nocturnal lifestyle. It is suggested that detailed studies of megachiropteran social structures may reveal important pointers to the adaptive bases of a solitary social life.
Notes:
The Copyright belongs to Indian Academy of Sciences.