EFFECT OF CLUSTERING BEHAVIOR ON BODY TEMPERATURE REGULATION IN Carollia perspicillata (CHIROPTERA: PHYLLOSTOMIDAE)

Abstract

The roosting behavior of a colony of the frugivore bat Carollia perspicillata was observed for three days inside a cavity of the hollow tree of Dipteryx panamensis in a secondary forest located at La Selva Field Station in Costa Rica. Individuals in the colony were classified by sex and age and their clustering pattern was documented through the sampling period. Temperature and humidity were recorded inside the cavity and temperature variation of the roosting site was contrasted against body temperature of individuals in the bat colony. Clustering individuals ofC. perspicillata maintained their body temperature above the environmental temperature; in the same manner the average temperature of individuals in the cluster was higher than the corporal temperature of peripheral individuals. A tradeoff between physiological and social determinants is suggested as an explanation of the observed pattern.