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Dietary analysis confirms that Rickett's big‐footed bat ( Myotis ricketti ) is a piscivore
Author(s) -
Ma Jie,
Jones Gareth,
Zhang Shuyi,
Shen Junxian,
Metzner Walter,
Zhang Libiao,
Liang Bing
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1017/s095283690300414x
Subject(s) - biology , piscivore , trawling , human echolocation , zoology , foraging , genus , omnivore , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , fishery , predation , predator , neuroscience
The diet of Myotis ricketti was examined by faecal analysis, and foraging behaviour was observed in the field. Scales from at least three species of small fish were found in the droppings, together with fragments of insects from six orders. This study demonstrates that M. ricketti is a fish‐eating bat. As with other trawling bats in the genus Myotis , M. ricketti emits short, broadband echolocation sounds. The sounds recorded from bats released from the hand swept downward from c. 70 to 28 kHz in 4 ms, and contained most energy at 41 kHz.