Mother bats expert at saving energy
Thursday, February 11, 2010 - 14:49
in Biology & Nature
In order to regulate their body temperature as efficiently as possible, wild female bats switch between two strategies depending on both the ambient temperature and their reproductive status. During pregnancy and lactation, they profit energetically from clustering when temperatures drop. Once they have finished lactating, they use torpor* to a greater extent, to slow their metabolic rate and drop their body temperature right down so that they expend as little energy as possible. These findings by Iris Pretzlaff, from the University of Hamburg in Germany, and colleagues, were just published online in Springer's journal Naturwissenschaften – The Science of Nature.