Low turnover rates of carbon isotopes in tissues of two nectar-feeding bat species
Christian C. Voigt1,*,
Felix Matt2,
Robert Michener3 and
Thomas H. Kunz3,4
1 Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315
Berlin, Germany
2 Zoologisches Institut II, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg,
Staudtstr. 5, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
3 Stable Isotope Laboratory, Department of Biology, Boston University,
Boston, MA 02215, USA
4 Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, Boston
University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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Fig. 2. Mean body mass (g) of individual Leptonycteris curasoae and
Glossophaga soricina during the course of the experiment (days).
Individuals are presented as different symbols; data points of the same
individuals are connected by lines. Day 1 represents the onset of the
experiment (i.e. the switch in diet from the C3 to
C4/CAM origin).
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Fig. 4. Relationship between regression coefficients and loss of body mass in
individual Leptonycteris curasoa (A) and Glossophaga
soricina (B). Filled circles, blood; open circles, wing membrane. The
regression coefficient was significantly correlated with loss of body mass in
G. soricina from which blood samples were taken (B, solid line). The
linear regression equation was y=-0.001x+0.0055, based on a
least-squares analysis.
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2003
13C; 
) in wing membrane,
blood and hair of Leptonycteris curosoae (A) and Glossophaga
soricina (B) compared to the initial diet originating from plants with a
C3 photosynthetic pathway. Data are presented as box plots with the
border of the box representing the 25% and 75% percentiles, the T-mark shows
the 10% and 90% percentiles and the outermost points the 5% and 95%
percentiles. The thin line within the box indicates the median.