Maternal mouth-to-mouth feeding behaviour in flower-visiting bats, but no experimental evidence for transmitted dietary preferences.
Behav Processes
; 165: 29-35, 2019 Aug.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31170462
ABSTRACT
In addition to breast milk, several mammals feed their offspring with primary food items. This provisioning can offer both energetic and informational benefits young might use parentally provided food as a source of nutrients, but also as a valuable option to socially learn about adults' food. For bats, there are only very few and partially anecdotal reports of adults feeding their pups with primary food, and there is also a lack of information about social learning processes during ontogeny. In the present study, we provide experimental evidence that lactating flower-visiting bats (Glossophaga soricina) provide regurgitated nectar via mouth-to-mouth feeding behaviour to their pups. After licking at their mothers' slightly opened mouth, pups defecated a marker substance that was exclusively available in the mothers' nectar diet. We additionally investigated associated informational benefits by testing for a social transmission of dietary preferences. We experimentally induced a dietary preference for specifically flavoured nectars to mothers with non-volant pups. Subsequently, after pups became volant, we tested their dietary preferences in a choice experiment. However, we found no experimental evidence that pups adopted the preferences of their mothers.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Contexto em Saúde:
1_ASSA2030
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Quirópteros
/
Flores
/
Comportamento Alimentar
/
Preferências Alimentares
/
Comportamento Materno
Aspecto:
Patient_preference
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Behav Processes
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article