The worlds largest bats are shrinking and hunters are to blame: study

The world’s biggest bats are shrinking, reveals new research.Flying fox fruit bats are getting smaller — and it may be down to human hunters, according to the study.Comparisons of the bats with five-foot-wingspans collected over time in Madagascar suggest that the biggest ones are selectively hunted, say scientists.Their findings, published in the Journal of Mammalogy, show that the giant fruit bats have been getting smaller over several decades.The research team, from Chicago’s Field Museum in the United States, suspects the trend is related to an increase in large-scale commercial hunting.They had noticed that flying fox skulls and skins preserved in the museum’s collections seemed to be larger than members of the same species they encountered while doing recent fieldwork in Madagascar.The researchers wondered why the modern bats were smaller than the older ones collected decades earlier.Study lead author Dr.Emily Ruhs said: “I was thinking about a million different angles to explain why the bats were getting smaller.“I wondered if it was related to changes in temperature or habitat.”But when she spoke to her colleague Dr.

Steve Goodman about it, he had a different hypothesis.On the basis of national legislation of Madagascar, the fruit bats are considered “vermin” associated with their consumption of commercially important fruits.And flying foxes as a game species are currently hunted for food on a large scale in certain parts of the island nation.Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.

Please provide a valid email.By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Never miss a story.Dr.

Goodman, the Field Museum’s only full-time field biologist, has been living and working in Madagascar for nearly 40 years.He noticed something significant after looking at late 18th- and 19th-Century museum specimens.Dr.Goodman said: “Many of these animals...