Mating without intromission in a bat

Nicolas J Fasel; Jan Jeucken; Kseniia Kravchenko; Marcus Fritze; Ireneusz Ruczyński; Ewa Komar; Marharyta Moiseienko; Alona Shulenko; Anton Vlaschenko; Philippe Christe; Olivier Glaizot; Susanne Holtze

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.054

Mating without intromission in a bat

Curr Biol. 2023 Nov 20;33(22):R1182-R1183. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.054.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: fasel.nicolas@gmail.com.
² Stichting De Laatvlieger, 5961 TP Horst aan de Maas, Netherlands.
³ Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center, Ukraine of the NGO "Ukrainian Independent Ecology Institute", 61001 Kharkiv, Ukraine.
⁴ German Bat Observatory, 13599 Berlin, Germany; Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald, Germany; Competence Center for Bat Conservation in Saxony-Anhalt, Karst Landscape South Harz Biosphere Reserve, 06536 Südharz, Germany.
⁵ Mammal Research Institute of Polish Academy of Sciences, Stoczek 1, 17-230 Białowiez˙a, Poland.
⁶ Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, 30-387 Krakow, Poland.
⁷ Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center, Ukraine of the NGO "Ukrainian Independent Ecology Institute", 61001 Kharkiv, Ukraine.
⁸ Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center, Ukraine of the NGO "Ukrainian Independent Ecology Institute", 61001 Kharkiv, Ukraine; Bat Biology Laboratory, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Institute of Natural Sciences, 61168 Kharkiv, Ukraine; National Scientific Center 'Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine', Pushkinska Street, 83, Kharkiv 61023, Ukraine.
⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Zoology, State Museum of Natural Sciences, 1014 Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹¹ Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, 10315 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: authorholtze@izw-berlin.de.

PMID: 37989092
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.054

Abstract

Copulatory behaviours stand as cornerstones of sexual selection, yet they remain mysterious in many species. Because of their nocturnal and elusive lifestyle, the copulatory behaviours of bats have been mostly overlooked¹. Several aspects of bat reproduction differ from other mammals (e.g. prolonged sperm storage², delayed development³). Here, we show that in serotine bats (Eptesicus serotinus) the penis is used as a 'copulatory arm' rather than an intromittent organ, revealing a novel copulatory behaviour in mammals.

MeSH terms

Animals
Chiroptera*
Copulation*
Male
Reproduction
Semen