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Updated: Jun 4, 2025

Tissue Collection of Bats for -Omics Analyses and Primary Cell Culture

Tissue Collection of Bats for -Omics Analyses and Primary Cell Culture

Published on: October 23, 2019

Bats surf storm fronts during spring migration.

Edward Hurme^1,2,3, Ivan Lenzi¹, Martin Wikelski^1,2,3

¹Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|January 2, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Bat migration is rare and poorly understood. This study tracked female common noctules using IoT tags, revealing long-distance spring migration and flexibility in migration timing and conditions.

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Area of Science:

Ornithology and Mammalogy
Animal Ecology and Behavior

Background:

Long-distance migration is well-documented in birds but poorly understood in bats.
Bats exhibit diverse migratory strategies, with long-distance movements being particularly rare and understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the migratory behavior of female common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) using advanced tracking technology.
To determine the distances, routes, and environmental factors influencing bat migration.

Main Methods:

Utilized lightweight, 1.2-gram Internet of Things (IoT) tags with onboard processing to monitor bat location, temperature, and activity.
Tracked 71 female common noctules over three spring migration seasons across central Europe, covering distances up to 1116 kilometers.

Main Results:

Observed bats migrating tens to hundreds of kilometers nightly, often coinciding with favorable warm fronts that provided wind support.
Documented significant migratory flexibility, with bats adapting to diverse environmental conditions.
Identified increased activity per distance traveled in late-season migrants, suggesting a potential trade-off for flexible timing.

Conclusions:

Common noctule bats undertake extensive spring migrations, challenging previous notions of limited bat migratory distances.
Bat migration is influenced by weather patterns, particularly warm fronts, but bats demonstrate notable adaptability.
Flexible migration timing may incur energetic costs for female bats.