Cognitive Ecology of Pollination: Bats as pollinators: foraging energetics and floral adaptations

摘要: Bat pollination is a pan-tropical phenomenon, performed in the Old World by small megachiropterans (Pteropodidae) and New microchiropterans of leaf-nosed bat family Phyllostomidae (Dobat 1985). Flower-visiting species total about 50 worldwide, while Dobat (1985) listed 750 bat-pollinated plant 270 genera (590 for Neo- 160 Palaeotropics). Since then, many more cases have been found. Although plants independently enlisted “megabats” “microbats” as pollinators, it likely that both systems links to one common root: ancient, nocturnal, non-flying mammals dating late Cretaceous (Sussman & Raven 1978). The extinction most these early mammalian flower visitors coincided with radiation bats from Eocene onward World, during Miocene South America Genera like Parkia may developed mammal before separation African American plates; they still retain this trait (Vogel 1969, 1980). Of found attract today, however, vast majority evolved their adaptative traits recently 1990). In Neotropics, useful consider continuum ranging less specialized “fruit-bat” flowers true “glossophagine” (von Helversen 1993; cf. Johnson Steiner 2000). For Costa Rica, we estimate two-thirds are glossophagine specialists.