| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1989 |
| Authors: | R. T. F. Bernard |
| Journal: | Mammal Rev. |
| Volume: | 19 |
| Pagination: | 27-34 |
| Date Published: | 1989 |
| Keywords: | Chiroptera, day roosts, delayed development, delayed implantation, ecology, Fledermäuse, foraging, Hipposideridae, Hipposideros caffer, latitude, Mammalia, Miniopteridae, Miniopterus fraterculus, Miniopterus schreibersii [natalensis], Myotis tricolor, Nycteridae, Nycteris thebaica, reproduction, review, Rhinolophidae, Rhinolophus capensis, Rhinolophus clivosus, seasonality, South Africa, sperm storage, spermatogenesis, temperate, tropical, Vespertilionidae |
| Abstract: | In the last 8 years, examples of prolonged sperm storage, delayed implantation and retarded embryonic development have been reported from some South temperate Old World Microchiroptera. Consequently some form of reproductive adaptation, in which a period of delay occurs in the reproductive cycle, is one requirement for hibernating bats in subtropical and temperature latitudes. The inclusion of a period of reproductive delay during winter effectively lengthens the reproductive cycle and allows gametogenesis to be initiated in the middle of one summer, and parturition to occur early the following summer. It is suggested that the type of reproductive delay evolved by a species may be related to its pattern of winter activity. |