Biology and Mythology of Bats

Zapotec bat god


Overview

With over 1,000 species, bats represent the second most diverse order of mammals on the planet. Perhaps because most of these species are nocturnal and many live in tropical regions, they are less well known than other groups of mammals. Nevertheless, bats figure prominently in the folklore of many ancient and current societies. In this course you will be introduced to the diversity of bats on earth through lectures, readings, discussion and occasional field trips. We will explore how bats have been used to understand basic biological problems that are shared by many animals including the biomechanics of flight, circulatory and respiratory physiology, thermoregulation and hibernation, reproduction and development, behavioral ecology, echolocation and orientation, aging, epidemiology, phylogenetics and conservation. We also will examine some of the myths and folklore that involve bats, including witches, vampires, and harbingers of death to see if there are any historical or regional patterns.

Each week one meeting will consist of a lecture presentation while the second meeting will consist of guided discussions of weekly readings of research papers. These meetings will be supplemented by field trips to the National Museum of Natural History and to local colonies of bats where we will record echolocation calls from free-ranging bats. You will be responsible for participating in class discussion, completing three short papers, and taking a final exam.


Course format

LECTURES: one per week on Mondays 4-5:15, PLS 1164. I expect all students to attend all lectures and to take notes.To supplement your notes, I will post my powerpoint presentations on the class website (www.life.umd.edu/faculty/wilkinson/honr278c) usually within 24 hours of the class.

DISCUSSIONS: one per week on Wednesdays 4-5:15, PLS 1164. Each week two students will be responsible for leading a discussion of the assigned reading. Everyone is required to read the primary article assigned each week. In addition, everyone is expected to choose one additional article from the list of related readings for that week. I have attempted to locate articles to read which have general interest or have provoked controversy. Most of the readings (see Schedule of Classes) consist of scientific studies on a topic that pertains to the material that was presented in a previous lecture. During the class the two leaders will first guide discussion of the primary article to insure that everyone understands what was done and how conclusions were reached. They will then ask other members of the class to summarize the content of related articles. Together we will attempt to figure out the current consensus view on the topic under discussion. As the instructor, I will monitor the discussion and interject information as necessary, but I will attempt to let the discussion leaders guide their classmates into figuring out what was done and discovered in a study. If you lead a discussion, you must create a list of questions for discussion and hand those in following your discussion. Discussion points will be assigned by weighting attendance, participation and presentation equally. See Hints for discussion preparation below.

TEXTBOOK: Altringham, J.D. 1998 Bats: Biology and Behavior. Oxford University Press

GRADES: Your course grade will be based on the sum of scores for all assignments/exams. The distribution of points across assignments/exams is as follows:

Paper 1 50 points
Paper 2 50 points
Paper 3 & presentation 100 points
Discussion 100 points
Final 100 points

I will assign letter grades, including pluses and minuses, on a curve based on how your total score ranks relative to others in the class.

EXAMS: There will be one exam, a final, May 19 at 1:30 PM. The final will consist of predominantly short answer questions designed to both examine the degree to which you have mastered the material as well as your ability to apply the information you have learned to solve problems. I will distribute a list of possible exam questions to study at least a week before the final. The final exam questions will include some of these study questions

PAPER 1: Species Account (50 pts, due Monday, Feb 23)

This 4-5 page (1000-1200 word) paper must include information about the taxonomy, physical characteristics, i.e. weight and length, range, reproductive cycle, natural history and conservation status of a bat species. Any additional biological information can be provided such as unusual physiological traits, type of echolocation, etc. All information must be supported by references to original, primary (that means published in a journal, not simply posted on a web page) literature. This paper must include at least 10 primary references. It should be formatted to be read when placed on the class web site.

PAPER 2: Biography (50 pts, due Monday, March 15)

Choose a bat biologist from the list below and write a 500-700 word biography about him or her. The purpose of this assignment is to provide information to prospective graduate students who might consider pursuing research with one of these people. In your biography indicate where and when the person was educated and, if you can figure it out, who he/she studied with. Then, discuss the type of research he/she has conducted and describe three noteworthy findings he/she has made. Indicate where they are now and where they have conducted their research. Provide a bibliography which includes as many of their books and papers as you can find. Finally, include a references cited section to document your sources.

PAPER 3: Mythology Article (75 pts, due Wednesday, April 28) and Presentation (25 pts, May 3, 5 or 10)

Write a 7-8 page (2000 word) article describing how bats have been used in a myth or legend or as an allegorical symbol in art, literature or other media. This paper should be written in a form suitable for publication in a popular magazine. You have freedom to choose any myth or legend related to bats. Attempt to trace the origins of the myth or legend and, when appropriate, try to determine the geographical and/or historical range of influence of the myth. Also, if appropriate, hypothesize which species of bats may have been associated with the myth or legend. Provide footnotes to your sources.

In addition to writing this paper, each student will be asked to give a 5-10 minute presentation to the class in which they describe the main points of their paper. I will attempt to organize the presentations by themes.

OFFICE HOURS: My office (BioPsych 2223) hours will be Wednesday 12-1 pm or by appointment. You can also schedule an appointment with me after class, by phone (301-405-6942) or by email wilkinso@umd.edu. If you discover that you are having difficulty with either the lecture or reading material, come see me. I can be most easily reached by email. If you have a short question, don't hestitate to send it to me by email. I will attempt to answer you within a day.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY : You should be aware that academic dishonesty is a serious offense that will not be tolerated in this course. The University of Maryland has a student-administered Honor Code and an Honor Pledge.The Code prohibits students from cheating on exams, fabricating information for a paper, helping another student to cheat, or plagiarizing material without adequately citing the source. This is especially important when writing your grant proposal. If you have any doubt about what constitutes plagiarism, please ask us. On the request of the University Senate I encourage each of you to write the following signed statement on each exam or assignment: ìI pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this examination (or assignment).î


Helpful Hints

HINTS FOR DISCUSSION PREPARATION : The intent of weekly discussions is to help you learn to think critically and speak confidently about bat biology and folklore. You should try to understand the assigned material and uncover its strengths and weaknesses by drawing on what you have learned to date. Identify the main points and critically examine the data and logic the authors use to support their conclusions. Don't be intimidated by statistical or scientific terms you do not understand. Just because this paper was published does not mean that it is necessarily correct. You should try not only to understand the research, but also to evaluate its importance and quality. By the end of the term I hope you will gain an appreciation for the process scientists use to reach general conclusions, such as those described in your text.

When you are responsible for presenting the week's paper, do not merely reiterate what the paper says. Your job is to encourage and lead discussion. The best way to do this is to BRIEFLY summarize the work, and then either ask questions of the group or suggest an interpretation that will provoke disagreement. Come prepared with several questions and pose them to the class. You can choose either to work through the paper systematically, or identify the major weakness (or strength) and build discussion around this.

Each week those members of the class not leading the discussion should come prepared to summarize one related paper. If you do not understand some aspect of either paper, ask your classmates for clarification. You can use the following set of questions to help guide you through understanding the main points, and evaluating the paper's strengths and weaknesses.

What is the paper's primary objective? Is it clearly stated and logically developed? Does the research attempt to test a specific hypothesis or is the work descriptive?

Are the methods appropriate for achieving the stated objective? Is the work observational or experimental? Are the observational techniques free from bias and/or is the experimental design free from flaws? Are the data analyzed appropriately?

What have the authors discovered? Are there any inconsistencies in the results?

What conclusions do the authors draw from the results? Is each conclusion supported by the results presented or by cited work? Where do the authors speculate, if at all, and are these speculations logical?

What is the contribution of this research to our understanding of the stated objectives and the larger field of which the research is a part? What kind of follow-up work would increase our understanding of the main questions?

SUPPLEMENTAL TEXTBOOKS :

Barbour, R.W. and Davis, W.H. Bats of America. University Press of Kentucky, Lexington.
Crichton, E.G. and Krutzsch, P.H. 2000 Reproductive Biology of Bats. Academic Press, New York.
Greenhall, A.M. and Schmidt, U. 1988 Natural History of Vampire Bats. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Griffin, D.R. 1974 Listening in the Dark. Dover Books, New York.
Hill, J.E. and Smith, J.D. 1984 Bats, A Natural History. University of Texas Press.
Kunz, T.H. and Fenton, M.B. 2003 Bat Ecology. Chicago University Press.
Neuweiler, G. 2000 The Biology of Bats. Oxford University Press
Nowak, R.M. 1994 Walkerís Bats of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press
Popper, A.N. and Fay, R.R. 1995 Hearing by Bats. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Schober, W. and Grimmberger, E. 1997 The Bats of Europe and North America. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, N.J.

BAT BIOLOGISTS

Altenbach, Scott Neuweiler, Gerhard
Baker, Robert J. Norberg, Ula
Barclay, Robert Novacek, Mike
Bhatnagar, Kunwar Novick, Allen
Bogdanowicz, Wieslaw Pettigrew, John
Bonaccorso, Frank Pollack, George
Chase, Julia Pumo, Dorothy
Fenton, Brock Pye, J. David
Findley, Jim Racey, Paul
Fleming, Ted Rasweiler, John
Freeman, Patricia Roeder, Ken
Fullard, Jim Rydell, Jens
Greenhall, Arthur Schmidt, Uwe
Griffin, Don Schnitzler, Hans Ulrich
Grinnell, Allen Simmon, James
Helversen, Otto Simmons, Nancy
Hodneycutt, Rodney Speakman, John
Jones, Gareth Suga, Nobua
Kalko, Elizabeth Suthers, Rod
Koopman, Karl Thomas, Don
Kunz, Thomas Tuttle, Merlin
Laval, Richard Twente, John
Masters, Mitch Vater, Marianne
McCracken, Gary Wenstrup, Jeff
McNab, Brian Willig, Mike
Miller, Lee Wilson, Don
Moss, Cynthia Wimsatt, William
Nagy. Ken Yager, Dave