The false dilemma of natural history vs. modern biology in Neotropical bat research

ABSTRACT

Todays biology is marked by a conflict of approaches due to changes in the way scientific knowledge is produced. Bat research is no exception, and colleagues from different schools struggle with each other in conferences and journals because some stand for old-fashioned, organism-oriented research, while others wholeheartedly defend modern, theory-oriented approaches. From some grand masters, especially Elisabeth Kalko and Adriano Peracchi, I learned that this is a false dilemma we do not need to choose between one view and the other, but rather can combine them. In this article, I make the case for this integration, aiming at a productive agreement in the chiropterological world.