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Assessing Essential Trace Elements in Cave Nectar Bat (Eonycteris spelaea): A Study in Barak Valley of Assam, India
Anisur Rahman1, Parthankar Choudhury2, Nazimur Rahman Talukdar1
1Wildlife Research and Conservation Laboratory, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, 788011, India.
Abstract:
This study investigated trace elements in the different organs of Eonycteris spelaea, a hill cave from the Bhuban Hills of Sonai Reserve Forest, Cachar, Assam (India). Six bats were collected from the site and concentrations of four trace elements (Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn) were examined from the tissues of liver, lungs, kidney, and patagium using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer (graphite furnace model-Analytic Jena Vario-6). The results of the study revealed that concentration of essential trace elements in the body tissues of E. spelaea were less than the maximum permissible limit. During the study, it was found that the concentration of copper in all the four organs are of the following order: liver (3 ± 0.11 μg/g dw) > lungs (2.4 ± 0.14 μg/g dw) > kidney (1.8 ± 0.10 μg/g dw) > patagium (1.8 ± 0.06 μg/g dw). For zinc, this sequence was kidney (61.8 ± 0.32 μg/g dw) > liver (61.2 ± 0.14 μg/g dw) > lungs (58.8 ± 0.19 μg/g dw) > patagium (46.8 ± 0.16 μg/g dw). For manganese, kidney (1.2 ± 0.15 μg/g dw) > lungs (0.6 ± 0.13 μg/g dw) > liver (0.6 ± 0.11 μg/g dw) > patagium (0.6 ± 0.10 μg/g), and for iron, it was liver (98.4 ± 0.22 μg/g) > lungs (78.6 ± 0.47 μg/g dw) > kidney (25.8 ± 0.23 μg/g dw) > patagium (16.2 ± 0.26 μg/g dw). Analysis of variance revealed significant differences (d.f. = 15, F = 44.84, P < 0.01) in the accumulation pattern in all the studied tissues of Eonycteris spelaea.
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