Body Size Variation in Italian Lesser Horseshoe Bats <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i> over 147 Years: Exploring the Effects of Climate Change, Urbanization and Geography
Body size in animals commonly shows geographic and temporal variations that may depend upon several environmental drivers, including climatic conditions, productivity, geography and species interactions. The topic of body size trends across time has gained momentum in recent years since this has bee...
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MDPI AG
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/1/16 |
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| author | Valeria B. Salinas-Ramos Paolo Agnelli Luciano Bosso Leonardo Ancillotto Víctor Sánchez-Cordero Danilo Russo |
| author_facet | Valeria B. Salinas-Ramos Paolo Agnelli Luciano Bosso Leonardo Ancillotto Víctor Sánchez-Cordero Danilo Russo |
| author_sort | Valeria B. Salinas-Ramos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Body size in animals commonly shows geographic and temporal variations that may depend upon several environmental drivers, including climatic conditions, productivity, geography and species interactions. The topic of body size trends across time has gained momentum in recent years since this has been proposed as a third universal response to climate change along with changes in distribution and phenology. However, disentangling the genuine effects of climate change from those of other environmental factors is often far from trivial. In this study, we tested a set of hypotheses concerning body size variation across time and space in Italian populations of a rhinolophid bat, the lesser horseshoe bat <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i>. We examined forearm length (FAL) and cranial linear traits in a unique historical collection of this species covering years from 1869 to 2016, representing, to the best of our knowledge, the longest time series ever considered in a morphological assessment of a bat species. No temporal changes occurred, rejecting the hypotheses that body size varied in response to climate change or urbanization (light pollution). We found that FAL increased with latitude following a Bergmann’s rule trend, whereas the width of upper incisors, likely a diet-related trait, showed an opposite pattern which awaits explanation. We also confirmed that FAL is sexually dimorphic in this species and ruled out that insularity has any detectable effect on the linear traits we considered. This suggests that positive responses of body size to latitude do not mean per se that concurring temporal responses to climate change are also expected. Further investigations should explore the occurrence of these patterns over larger spatial scales and more species in order to detect the existence of general patterns across time and space. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:40:52Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:40:52Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-a1fd0ad8b6d44e89a988b6cceeb38db32023-11-21T03:04:14ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372020-12-011011610.3390/biology10010016Body Size Variation in Italian Lesser Horseshoe Bats <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i> over 147 Years: Exploring the Effects of Climate Change, Urbanization and GeographyValeria B. Salinas-Ramos0Paolo Agnelli1Luciano Bosso2Leonardo Ancillotto3Víctor Sánchez-Cordero4Danilo Russo5Wildlife Research Unit, Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Università, 100, 80055 Portici, ItalySistema Museale dell’Università di Firenze, Museo di Storia Naturale, Sede di Zoologia La Specola, via Romana 17, 50125 Firenze, ItalyWildlife Research Unit, Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Università, 100, 80055 Portici, ItalyWildlife Research Unit, Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Università, 100, 80055 Portici, ItalyLaboratorio de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad, 04510 Ciudad de México, MexicoWildlife Research Unit, Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Università, 100, 80055 Portici, ItalyBody size in animals commonly shows geographic and temporal variations that may depend upon several environmental drivers, including climatic conditions, productivity, geography and species interactions. The topic of body size trends across time has gained momentum in recent years since this has been proposed as a third universal response to climate change along with changes in distribution and phenology. However, disentangling the genuine effects of climate change from those of other environmental factors is often far from trivial. In this study, we tested a set of hypotheses concerning body size variation across time and space in Italian populations of a rhinolophid bat, the lesser horseshoe bat <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i>. We examined forearm length (FAL) and cranial linear traits in a unique historical collection of this species covering years from 1869 to 2016, representing, to the best of our knowledge, the longest time series ever considered in a morphological assessment of a bat species. No temporal changes occurred, rejecting the hypotheses that body size varied in response to climate change or urbanization (light pollution). We found that FAL increased with latitude following a Bergmann’s rule trend, whereas the width of upper incisors, likely a diet-related trait, showed an opposite pattern which awaits explanation. We also confirmed that FAL is sexually dimorphic in this species and ruled out that insularity has any detectable effect on the linear traits we considered. This suggests that positive responses of body size to latitude do not mean per se that concurring temporal responses to climate change are also expected. Further investigations should explore the occurrence of these patterns over larger spatial scales and more species in order to detect the existence of general patterns across time and space.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/1/16batBergmann’s ruleclimate changeland use changelight pollutionmorphology |
| spellingShingle | Valeria B. Salinas-Ramos Paolo Agnelli Luciano Bosso Leonardo Ancillotto Víctor Sánchez-Cordero Danilo Russo Body Size Variation in Italian Lesser Horseshoe Bats <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i> over 147 Years: Exploring the Effects of Climate Change, Urbanization and Geography Biology bat Bergmann’s rule climate change land use change light pollution morphology |
| title | Body Size Variation in Italian Lesser Horseshoe Bats <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i> over 147 Years: Exploring the Effects of Climate Change, Urbanization and Geography |
| title_full | Body Size Variation in Italian Lesser Horseshoe Bats <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i> over 147 Years: Exploring the Effects of Climate Change, Urbanization and Geography |
| title_fullStr | Body Size Variation in Italian Lesser Horseshoe Bats <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i> over 147 Years: Exploring the Effects of Climate Change, Urbanization and Geography |
| title_full_unstemmed | Body Size Variation in Italian Lesser Horseshoe Bats <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i> over 147 Years: Exploring the Effects of Climate Change, Urbanization and Geography |
| title_short | Body Size Variation in Italian Lesser Horseshoe Bats <i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i> over 147 Years: Exploring the Effects of Climate Change, Urbanization and Geography |
| title_sort | body size variation in italian lesser horseshoe bats i rhinolophus hipposideros i over 147 years exploring the effects of climate change urbanization and geography |
| topic | bat Bergmann’s rule climate change land use change light pollution morphology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/1/16 |
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