UNSW Embryology

Bat Development

© Dr Mark Hill (2008)

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The bat (chiroptera) family consists of about 1,000 species throughout the world today (90 in Australia) and is not a common model of mammalian embryonic development.

Short-tailed fruit bat Carollia perspicillata (embryonic stage 19)
(Image: Creteko & Behringer)

The taxon chiroptera can also be further divided into the Megachiroptera (flying foxes) and Microchiroptera suborders. Echolocation sounds have been shown to differ in Microchiroptera (vocal cords) and Megachiroptera (tongue clicks).

See also Bat Stages of Development and Bat Limb Development.

Page Links: Introduction | Some Recent Findings | Stage 19 Animation | Taxon | Development Overview | Nervous System | WWW Links | References | Glossary

Some Recent Findings

Cretekos CJ, Wang Y, Green ED; NISC Comparative Sequencing Program, Martin JF, Rasweiler JJ 4th, Behringer RR. Regulatory divergence modifies limb length between mammals. Genes Dev. 2008 Jan 15;22(2):141-51.

"...Prx1 expression directed by the bat enhancer results in elevated transcript levels in developing forelimb bones and forelimbs that are significantly longer than controls because of endochondral bone formation alterations. Surprisingly, deletion of the mouse Prx1 limb enhancer results in normal forelimb length and Prx1 expression, revealing regulatory redundancy. These findings suggest that mutations accumulating in pre-existing noncoding regulatory sequences within a population are a source of variation for the evolution of morphological differences between species and that cis-regulatory redundancy may facilitate accumulation of such mutations."

Cretekos CJ, Weatherbee SD, Chen CH, Badwaik NK, Niswander L, Behringer RR, Rasweiler JJ 4th. Embryonic staging system for the short-tailed fruit bat, Carollia perspicillata, a model organism for the mammalian order Chiroptera, based upon timed pregnancies in captive-bred animals. Dev Dyn. 2005 Jul;233(3):721-38.

Chen CH, Cretekos CJ, Rasweiler JJ 4th, Behringer RR. Hoxd13 expression in the developing limbs of the short-tailed fruit bat, Carollia perspicillata. Evol Dev. 2005 Mar-Apr;7(2):130-41.

Stage 19 Animation

Below is shown a Stage 19 embryo rotation animation.

(Movie from original separate images: Creteko & Behringer)

Taxon

Chiroptera
Genbank common name: bats
Taxonomy Id: 9397 Rank: order

Genetic code: Translation table 1 (Standard)

Mitochondrial genetic code: Translation table 2 (Vertebrate Mitochondrial)

Lineage( abbreviated ): Eukaryota; Fungi/Metazoa group; Metazoa; Eumetazoa; Bilateria; Coelomata; Deuterostomia; Chordata; Craniata; Vertebrata; Gnathostomata; Teleostomi; Euteleostomi; Sarcopterygii; Tetrapoda; Amniota; Mammalia; Theria; Eutheria; Laurasiatheria

NCBI Taxonomy Browser Chiroptera

Species Comparison

Carollia perspicillata: (short-tailed fruit bat) Ovulation has a 24 hour variation with up to 2 days of variation in oviduct transit time, and gestation period is 113 - 120 days.

Myotis thysanodes and M. lucifugus: Ovulation, fertilization, and implantation occur during the first 2 weeks of May and gestation is 50 - 60 days for both species.

Development Overview

The developmental stages overview shown below is based upon Carollia perspicillata the short-tailed fruit bat (table modified from Cretekos etal, 2005).

Stage 10 - 13	Stage 12 - 17	Stage 18 - 24

Embryonic Bat Stages

Stage	Key features	Somites	Age (dpc)	Uterus diameter (mm)	Crown-rump length (mm)	Mass (mg)
12	Forelimb buds form; tail bud forms; caudal neuropore closes; 3 pharyngeal arches.	21-29	40	5.75 (+/- 0.64)	3.4 (+/- 0.42)	4.3 (+/- 1.7)
14	Retinal pigment; nasal pits; end of somitogenesis; propatagium and plagiopatagium primordia; hindlimb AER.	36-40	44	6.95 (+/- 0.44)	5.35 (+/- 0.24)	24.6 (+/- 3.6)
15	Hand plate and footplate form; lens vesicle; auditory hillocks; premaxillary centers.		46	8.65 (+/- 1.20)	7.45 (+/- 0.92)	56 (+/- 13)
16	Nose-leaf primordium; pinna and tragus form; forelimb digital condensations, uropatagium primordium.		50	12.06 (+/- 1.45)	8.66 (+/- 1.05)	110 (+/- 30)
17	Tongue protruding; cervical flexure straightens; hindlimb interdigit tissue receding; eyes begin to close.		54	13.45 (+/- 1.34)	9.15 (+/- 1.34)	114 (+/- 45)
18	Free thumb; head and body smoother, rounder; eyes half-closed; postaxial flexure at wrist; calcar.		60	16.32 (+/- 0.98)	12.35 (+/- 1.16)	278 (+/- 83)
20	Distal forelimbs overlap over face; head larger; eyelids cover pigmented retina; claw primordia form.		70	20.0 (+/- 3.54)	16.35 (+/- 1.06)	617 (+/- 156)
22	Prominent, triangular nose-leaf; eyelids reopening; wing membranes corrugated; claws pigmented, hooked.		80	23.03 (+/- 2.68)	20.02 (+/- 0.26)	1527 (+/- 208)
24	Fetal period commences; eyes completely open; face and nose-leaf pigmenting.		90	23.53 (+/- 0.64)	21.13 (+/- 0.06)	2097 (+/- 199)

(Values are mean n= 2-6, +/- standard deviation, original table contains more detailed data)

Nervous System

Below is shown a Stage 14 embryo nervous system as identified by neurofilament antibody (brown) staining.

(Image: Creteko & Behringer)

WWW Links

University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology Animal Diversity - Order Chiroptera

The University of Texas, Department of Molecular Genetics Richard R. Behringer Lab

Developmental Dynamics Poster of Bat Development

The University Queensland, Vision Touch and Hearing Research Centre, Prof Jack Pettigrew | Megabat | Molecular Phylogeny of Bats in Disarray

Bat Societies: Bat Conservation International | Australasian Bat Society

NPWS (part of the Department of Environment and Conservation) and State Forests of NSW Bat calls of NSW | Bat calls of NSW PDF Document (PDF - 1.4MB)

Note: The dynamic nature of the web means that some Links over time change, it the above links no longer function search the web using the first bold term.

References

Links: Journals | Online Textbooks | Search Textbooks | PubMed | Search PubMed | Glossary

PubMed

Reviews

Articles

• Cretekos CJ, Weatherbee SD, Chen CH, Badwaik NK, Niswander L, Behringer RR, Rasweiler JJ 4th. Embryonic staging system for the short-tailed fruit bat, Carollia perspicillata, a model organism for the mammalian order Chiroptera, based upon timed pregnancies in captive-bred animals. Dev Dyn. 2005 Jul;233(3):721-38.
• Chen CH, Cretekos CJ, Rasweiler JJ 4th, Behringer RR. Hoxd13 expression in the developing limbs of the short-tailed fruit bat, Carollia perspicillata. Evol Dev. 2005 Mar-Apr;7(2):130-41.
• O'Brien GM, McFarlane JR, Kearney PJ. Pituitary content of luteinizing hormone reveals species differences in the reproductive synchrony between males and females in Australian flying-foxes (genus Pteropus). Reprod Fertil Dev. 2003;15(4):255-61.
• Rasweiler JJ 4th, Badwaik NK. Improved procedures for maintaining and breeding the short-tailed fruit bat (Carollia perspicillata) in a laboratory setting. Lab Anim. 1996 Apr;30(2):171-81.

Search PubMed

Search Jan2006 "Chiroptera development" 303 reference articles of which 20 were reviews.

Search PubMed: term=Chiroptera+development

Glossary of Terms

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Quick Links

Development Notes ----------------- Menstrual Cycle Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Placenta Serial Images Genes/DNA Molecular Dev Abnormal Dev Postnatal Dev Notes Index

System Notes ----------------- Heart/Cardiovascular Respiratory Coelomic cavity Gastrointestinal Tract Head and Neck Neural Neural Crest Eye Ear Nose Endocrine Urogenital Musculoskeletal Integumentary

Movies ----------------- Embryo Growth Ultrasound Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Stage 13/14 Stage 22 Neural Head and Neck Heart Vasculature Gastrointestinal Urogenital Other Embryos Larsen Internet

Other Embryos ----------------- Chicken Fly Frog Guinea Pig Mouse Rabbit Rat Worm Zebrafish

UNSW Embryology ISBN: 978 0 7334 2609 4

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