Hi Richard,

Dr David Westcott (CSIRO) is likely to have some thoughts and pubs on this - [email protected]

Best wishes,

Tara

Using data in the published literature (Lobova et al.), we compared average plant size and stature, size and allometry of seeds dispersed by three neotropical bats (unpublished Master report), and across the tropics (cf. Forget et al. 2007, CABI FSD2005 book). We also compared plant-bat interaction networks in three continents (with Marco Mello), still unpublished study requiring further data from Central Africa and the Asia-Pacific regions. Most data in the literature are from feces, ie seeds thar are seeds < 7-8 mm in L, and elongated ones, and figs thus predominate. Data for seeds > 10 mm (uningested, dropped at roost or feeding sites) are quite scarce, and scattered in the grey literature, though are a major food soruces for bats. Review by Sheema Abdul Aziz et al. In press.

Many thanks everybody. I have seen all these publications and they don't - quite! - answer my question, at least not for Pteropodids. I suspect that there is a lot more unpublished data out there. I look forward to seeing the Sheema Abdul Aziz et al. review.

Neotropical species often forage in a different way to many old-world species, in addition to showing a much greater diversity that of old-world fruit bats. Feeding behaviour is likely to be influenced by numerous environmental factors (habitat density and moon-phase (relating to light levels and detectability by potential predators), distance from roost (and the availability of feeding roost sites) and even breeding behaviour in species which lek or have harems,

The body size of neotropical bats is also far more variable. Smaller species of phylostomid, such as Ectophylla will apparently forage in huge numbers around fruiting figs, but are unlikely to be able to eat on the wing (they are tiny), and so I imagine will settle in the tree itself or in temporary feeding roosts, and other phylostomid species certainly make use of feeding roosts to process larger seeds.

Few people have looked at this systematically, though Tuanjit has been looking at seed rain (and dispersers) in a deforested patch in Peninsula Thailand, and I believe some of the African bat groups have also done some research.

Cynopterus is said to be one of the main afforesters for Anak Krakatau; so looking at the floral record there and searching for any gaps between species which are eaten by bats, but not largely swallowed, and those swallowed and defecated might be one way of looking to see what fruits are being treated in different ways. But as is normally the case with bats-we need more bat researchers!