Absence of lunar phobia in European swarming vespertilionid bats.

ABSTRACT: "Lunar phobia" in bats has been widely discussed since its description in tropical bats in 1978. The phenomenon has been frequently contested and supported and was first reported in European bats in 2020. Our study seeks to clarify the debate by describing the relationship between the activity of selected swarming vespertilionid bats (Family: Vespertilionidae) and moonlight levels. To verify a potential connection to the latter, a swarming dataset was analysed in respect of estimated moonlight illumination. Moonlight estimates were based on geographical location and several lunar parameters, to accurately characterise the non-linear relationship between moon phase and illumination (lux). The swarming data consisted of 32 netting and 14 echolocation recording sessions collected between Augu

SUBMITTER: Apoznanski G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10834490 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature