Remember…
Bats aren’t spooky, they’re adorable 💕Here, an Ectophylla alba pup chilling under a leaf tent gets a surprise visit… from a katydid.
Happy Halloween 🦇🦇🦇

Brown rats are preying on bats at urban hibernation sites – even snatching them mid-air. Conservation efforts must include non-native rodent control at key bat roosts.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Our latest research highlights the importance of dry grasslands for bats 🦇🦇🦇
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New publication from my lab: Vampyrum spectrum, the Neotropics' largest carnivorous bat, is very cooperative. These gentle apex predators regularly provide prey for family member – documented in the wild for the first time.
doi.org/10.1371/jour...

New paper out!
We found that in pipistrelle bats, social vocalizations carry a stronger phylogenetic signal than echolocation calls, suggesting the former evolve more slowly, while the latter remains flexible and shaped by the environment.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

In the field in Abruzzo National Park, watching Daubenton’s bats hunt over water at night. Excited to co-supervise Chiara Belli’s PhD together with Danilo Russo from the Animal Ecology and Evolution Lab in Italy. Chiara studies altitudinal segregation in bats and how climate change affects it 🦇🦇🦇

Danilo Russo and I have received a grant from MfN Berlin to study how climate change affects bat pup survival.

As Southern Europe swelters under record-breaking temperatures, we are investigating how extreme heat turns safe roosts into death traps – and how to prevent that.

Behavioral ecology can inform conservation – and male bats must be part of the picture!

Mating roosts are vital for reproduction, so they should receive the same protection as nursery roosts. Plus, males yodel there...😅

nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Check out the beautiful book Smithsonian Kids published about our research on babbling baby bats! Illustrated by Gavin Scott and written by Paige Towler together with the Smithsonian Bat Lab.

Although it was published last year, I only received my copy a few days ago — and I’m completely smitten! ♥️

Mother Bats Shape Their Pups’ Voices
Vocal learning isn’t just about listening—it’s about interactions! Mother bats play a key role in shaping how their pups learn to communicate, showing how important early-life interactions are.
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
@eLife.bsky.social
@ahanaaurora.bsky.social

Join the Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University for a virtual event on 15th May 2025 at 2PM BST to award the first winner of the Coller Dolittle Challenge for Interspecies Two-Way Communication.

Register here: zoom.us/webinar/regi...

How Do Bats Find Artificial Roosts?

Surprisingly, our study found that bats' previous experience with artificial roosts mattered more than enhanced detectability!

Read more in our new paper!
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Photo by Anja Bergmann

Who is calling? Bats outsmart deception by solving sensory conflicts

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Bats' vocalizations can reveal their personalities

Bold, exploratory, and proactive individuals were more likely to produce social calls – and more agitated bats called even more!

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Photo by Michael Stifter