Daily torpor and energetics in a tropical mammal, the northern blossom-bat Macroglossus minimus (Megachiroptera)

@article{Bartels1998DailyTA,
  title={Daily torpor and energetics in a tropical mammal, the northern blossom-bat Macroglossus minimus (Megachiroptera)},
  author={Wilmur Bartels and Bradley S. Law and Fritz Geiser},
  journal={Journal of Comparative Physiology B},
  year={1998},
  volume={168},
  pages={233-239}
}
Abstract Little is known about torpor in the tropics or torpor in megachiropteran species. We investigated thermoregulation, energetics and patterns of torpor in the northern blossom-bat Macroglossus minimus (16 g) to test whether physiological variables may explain why its range is limited to tropical regions. Normothermic bats showed a large variation in body temperature (Tb) (33 to 37 °C) over a wide range of ambient temperatures (Tas) and a relatively low basal metabolic rate (1.29 ml O2 g… 
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85 Citations

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Thermobiology, energetics and activity patterns of the Eastern tube-nosed bat (Nyctimene robinsoni) in the Australian tropics: effect of temperature and lunar cycle
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The results show that tube-nosed bats exhibit reduced Tb on moonlit nights when they reduce foraging activity, but during the study torpor was not expressed, suggesting that the energy constraints experienced here by tube- nosed bats with relatively moderate Ta fluctuations, short commuting distances between roosting and feeding locations, and high availability of food were probably not substantial enough to require use of torpor.
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Results indicate that M. condylurus maintained an optimally small Tb–Ta differential by readily becoming torpid under roosting conditions, thereby minimizing energy expenditure.
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It is proposed that physiological as well as behavioural preparations for the September mating season that culminate in a complete male die-off might already impose energetic costs on males during winter.
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