Jason Preble

Jason Preble

Oct 28, 2019

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Progress and Wing-shape Hypotheses プログレスと翼の形に関する仮説

We are now over half-way through the crowdfunding campaign, with 64% of the funds necessary for this project raised with 10 days left to reach 100%. Thank you again to everyone who has backed the project or supported by sharing our story!

Once I’m able to carry out the DNA extractions and metabarcoding necessary to identify what Okinawa’s little bats eat, I can compare the results to my following hypotheses.

1. The Ryukyu tube-nosed bat forages largely in cluttered understory environments where it also gleans prey off of surfaces, including the ground. 

2. The Yanbaru whiskered bat mostly catches flying insects on the wing over waterways, so its diet consists largely of insects associated with forest streams. 


There are three clues that lead me to these hypotheses: 

1. Wing shape                    

2. Echolocation shape                     

3. The environments where we have found these bats.

Here, I want to talk just about wing shape. 

Just like the difference between the wings of gliders and fighter jets, bat wings are shaped differently depending on the flight style of the bat. The Ryukyu tube-nosed bat’s wings are shorter and wider, characteristic of bats that fly in cluttered environments. Bats with this type of wing are better at turning but generally do not fly as fast. Ryukyu tube-nosed bats can actually even hover like hummingbird! The Yanbaru whiskered bat’s wings on the other hand, are longer and thinner, characteristic of bats that fly faster in more open spaces, where they do not have to turn as well to avoid obstacles. 

現在本クラウドファンディングのキャンペーンの折り返し地点を過ぎたところで、必要である資金の64%が集められ、100%に達するまでには残り10日間です。支援してくださった方や本プロジェクトをシェアしてくださった方にもう一回、どうもありがとうございます!

沖縄の小コウモリが食べている物を識別するのに必要であるDNA抽出やメタバーコーディングを行うことができれば、その結果を以下の仮説と比較できます。

1.リュウキュウテングコウモリは森林内の密な環境で採餌し、植物の表面や地面にいる昆虫も食べます。

2.ヤンバルホオヒゲコウモリは主に飛んでいる昆虫を捕獲し、川沿いでよく採餌するため、森林内の川から羽化する昆虫をよく食べます。


この仮説に関するヒントは3つあります:

1. 翼の形           

2. エコーロケーションの形        

3. 種類が確認されている環境

ここでは翼の形についてのみ話したいと思っています。

グライダー飛行機と戦闘機の翼の違いと同様に、コウモリの翼は種の飛び方によって形が変わります。リュウキュウテングコウモリの翼は短くて幅が広く、密な環境に飛ぶコウモリの特徴です。このような翼を持つコウモリは、曲がるのが得意ですが、それほど早くは飛行しません。リュウキュウテングコウモリはハチドリのようにホバリングすることさえできます!一方で、ヤンバルホオヒゲコウモリの翼は長くて幅が狭いですが、これは障害物を避けるために同様に回転する必要のない、より開けている環境でより速く飛ぶコウモリの特徴です。

Ryukyu tube-nosed bat リュウキュウテングコウモリ

Yanbaru whiskered bat ヤンバルホオヒゲコウモリ

So, what type of fliers do you think the better-known cave bats below are?  

従って、以下の写真を見て、もう少し知られている洞窟性コウモリはどういうふうに飛ぶと思いますか?

Okinawa least horseshoe bat オキナワコキクガシラコウモリ

Southeast Asian bent-winged bat リュウキュウユビナガコウモリ


1 comments

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  • Webster Ross
    Webster RossBacker
    That is so cool that bats have different wing shapes depending on how they need to fly, it's like white water kayaks VS. Sea kayaks!
    Oct 29, 2019

About This Project

JP / EN

The Ryukyu tube-nosed bat and Yanbaru whiskered bat are two endangered bats that only exist in the remaining forests of three islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. However, we don't know enough about these bats to design conservation strategies for them. I will extract and analyze the DNA from 50 previously collected bat poop samples from Okinawa. The DNA will tell us what the bats are eating, which in turn will tell us where they are eating, and therefore where to protect.

Blast off!

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