investigator work in Africa are the first to keep an eye on monkeys prey on bat . The strange doings , which may have something to do with passing of habitat , could excuse how serious disease such as Ebola spread among specie — and eventually to humans .
African Cercopithecus monkeys are “ opportunistic ” omnivore , which means they ’ll eat on just about anything . In addition to eat various fruits and leaves , they sometimes consume lizard , snakes , birds , and mice . And now , asa new paperpublished in EcoHealth shows , they also like to feed on bats .
This suggest a novel pathway for bat - to - rascal disease transmission . Prior to this study , scientists assumed that imp sign up zoonotic diseases — disease that spread from species to mintage — by eating fruits contaminated with an infected chiropteran ’s spit or feces . These prolific flying mammal are carriers of several problematic diseases , including Ebola , Marburg , and Henipa .
A enquiry team from Florida Atlantic University witnessed a total of 13 bat predation events over the course of six - and - a - one-half years . The researchers , top by Elizabeth Tapanes from the Gombe Hybrid Monkey Project , photographed and filmed the monkey as they manage and use up the bat .
“ In two of the events at the Kakamega Forest in Kenya , a monkey abduct a chiropteran from its day - roosting tree diagram before eat it , ” state Tapanes in a press statement . “ Roosting bats were potential easy prey that could be reached while torpid or departed . ”
The monkeys , who often had prolonged contact with squash racket carcass , pass up to ten minutes to an full hour consuming a individual bat . In one case , a monkey ate the entire squash racquet — bones and all .
“ Our study found that Cercopithecus monkeys opportunistically preyed on bat not only in Gombe , but also in the Kakamega Forest in Kenya , ” say Kate Detwiler , co - author of the study and an assistant prof in FAU ’s Department of Anthropology . The researchers say the persistence of these monkeys to capture their prey indicate that the bat are a valuable item in their intellectual nourishment repertoire .
All of these predation events hap along the forest - edge or plantation habitat , paint a picture that passing of habitat may play a component . “ While effect of home ground alteration on cricket bat are unknown and merit further study , our reflexion intimate that Cercopithecus monkeys preying on bats may be home ground specific , and possibly affected by anthropogenetic home ground changes , ” enjoin Tapanes .
So there is yet another reasonableness to mitigate habitat loss in these sensitive area .
[ EcoHealth ]
BiologyScience
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