Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

19 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Homosexual Fellatio: Erect Penis Licking between Male Bonin Flying Foxes Pteropus pselaphon.

ABSTRACT: A recent focus of interest has been on the functional significance of genital licking (fellatio and cunnilingus) in relation to sexual selection in Pteropodid bats. In the present paper, a form of fellatio in wild Bonin flying foxes, Pteropus pselaphon, performed between adult males has been reported. During the mating season, adult flying foxes roost in same-sex groups, forming ball-shaped clusters which provide warmth. The female clusters may also contain a few males. Unassociated with allogrooming, same-sex genital licking occurred among males in the all male clusters. As such, male-male fellatio can be considered as homosexual behavior, two functional explanations could account for this behavior; the social bonding and the social tension regulation hypotheses suggested in a previous review. Given that neither the simpler alternative that in all male groups such fellatio may represent misdirected sexual behavior, nor the two previously proposed functional hypotheses were supported by the data, I propose another functional hypothesis. Homosexual fellatio in this species could help males solve inconsistent situations in the roost when there are conflicts between cooperative behavior for social thermoregulation and competition for mating.

SUBMITTER: Sugita N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5100941 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Physiological stress and Hendra virus in flying-foxes (Pteropus spp.), Australia.

Project description:Pteropid bats (flying-foxes) are the natural reservoir of Hendra virus, an emergent paramyxovirus responsible for fatal infection in horses and humans in Australia. Pteropus alecto (the Black flying-fox) and the paraphyletic P. conspicillatus (the Spectacled flying-fox) appear to be the primary reservoir hosts. Previous studies have suggested that physiological and ecological factors may underpin infection dynamics in flying-foxes, and subsequent spillover to horses and in turn humans. We sought to examine temporal trends in urinary cortisol concentration in wild Australian flying-fox populations, to elucidate the putative relationship between Hendra virus infection and physiological stress. Pooled and individual urine samples were non-invasively collected from under roosting flying-foxes at two latitudinally disparate regions in the eastern Australian state of Queensland. Hendra virus detection, and (in individual urine samples) sex and species determination were PCR-based. Urinary cortisol measurement used a validated enzyme immunoassay. We found no direct correlation between increased urinary cortisol and Hendra virus excretion, but our findings do suggest a biologically plausible association between low winter temperatures and elevated cortisol levels in P. alecto in the lower latitude Southeast Queensland roosts. We hypothesize an indirect association between low winter temperatures and increased Hendra virus infection and excretion, mediated by the physiological cost of thermoregulation. Our findings and our approach are directly relevant to elaboration of the disease ecology of Nipah virus and other emerging henipaviruses in bats. More broadly, they inform investigation of emerging disease infection dynamics across the wildlife/livestock/human interface.

| S-EPMC5540484 | biostudies-literature

Establishment of immortalized primary cell from the critically endangered Bonin flying fox (Pteropus pselaphon).

Project description:The Bonin flying fox (Pteropus pselaphon) is one of the most critically endangered species of animals. The number of this species is estimated to be around 150; being classified at the top rank in the list by International Union of Animal Conservation. Our group previously showed that expression of CDK4, CYCLIN D1, and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) efficiently induce immortalization of human, bovine, swine, monkey, and buffalo-derived cells. In this manuscript, we successfully established the primary cells from Bonin flying fox. We introduced CDK4, CYCLIN D1, and TERT into the primary cells. The established cells showed efficient expression of introduced genes at the protein level. Furthermore, the established cells were free from senescence, indicating it reached to immortalization. Moreover, we showed that interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer of Bonin flying fox derived cell into bovine embryo allowed the development of the embryo to 8 cell stages. Our established cell has the potential to contribute to species conservation.

| S-EPMC6709887 | biostudies-literature

Are flying-foxes coming to town? Urbanisation of the spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) in Australia.

Project description:Urbanisation of wildlife populations is a process with significant conservation and management implications. While urban areas can provide habitat for wildlife, some urbanised species eventually come into conflict with humans. Understanding the process and drivers of wildlife urbanisation is fundamental to developing effective management responses to this phenomenon. In Australia, flying-foxes (Pteropodidae) are a common feature of urban environments, sometimes roosting in groups of tens of thousands of individuals. Flying-foxes appear to be becoming increasingly urbanised and are coming into increased contact and conflict with humans. Flying-fox management is now a highly contentious issue. In this study we used monitoring data collected over a 15 year period (1998-2012) to examine the spatial and temporal patterns of association of spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) roost sites (camps) with urban areas. We asked whether spectacled flying-foxes are becoming more urbanised and test the hypothesis that such changes are associated with anthropogenic changes to landscape structure. Our results indicate that spectacled flying-foxes were more likely to roost near humans than might be expected by chance, that over the period of the study the proportion of the flying-foxes in urban-associated camps increased, as did the number of urban camps. Increased urbanisation of spectacled flying-foxes was not related to changes in landscape structure or to the encroachment of urban areas on camps. Overall, camps tended to be found in areas that were more fragmented, closer to human habitation and with more urban land cover than the surrounding landscape. This suggests that urbanisation is a behavioural response rather than driven by habitat loss.

| S-EPMC4190360 | biostudies-literature

Haematology and Plasma Biochemistry of Wild Black Flying-Foxes, (Pteropus alecto) in Queensland, Australia.

Project description:This paper establishes reference ranges for hematologic and plasma biochemistry values in wild Black flying-foxes (Pteropus alecto) captured in South East Queensland, Australia. Values were found to be consistent with those of other Pteropus species. Four hundred and forty-seven animals were sampled over 12 months and significant differences were found between age, sex, reproductive and body condition cohorts in the sample population. Mean values for each cohort fell within the determined normal adult reference range, with the exception of elevated levels of alkaline phosphatase in juvenile animals. Hematologic and biochemistry parameters of injured animals showed little or no deviation from the normal reference values for minor injuries, while two animals with more severe injury or abscessation showed leucocytosis, anaemia, thrombocytosis, hyperglobulinemia and hypoalbuminemia.

| S-EPMC4418720 | biostudies-other

Morphological and quantitative analysis of leukocytes in free-living Australian black flying foxes (Pteropus alecto).

Project description:The black flying fox (Pteropus alecto) is a natural reservoir for Hendra virus, a paramyxovirus that causes fatal infections in humans and horses in Australia. Increased excretion of Hendra virus by flying foxes has been hypothesized to be associated with physiological or energetic stress in the reservoir hosts. The objective of this study was to explore the leukocyte profiles of wild-caught P. alecto, with a focus on describing the morphology of each cell type to facilitate identification for clinical purposes and future virus spillover research. To this end, we have created an atlas of images displaying the commonly observed morphological variations across each cell type. We provide quantitative and morphological information regarding the leukocyte profiles in bats captured at two roost sites located in Redcliffe and Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, over the course of two years. We examined the morphology of leukocytes, platelets, and erythrocytes of P. alecto using cytochemical staining and characterization of blood films through light microscopy. Leukocyte profiles were broadly consistent with previous studies of P. alecto and other Pteropus species. A small proportion of individual samples presented evidence of hemoparasitic infection or leukocyte morphological traits that are relevant for future research on bat health, including unique large granular lymphocytes. Considering hematology is done by visual inspection of blood smears, examples of the varied cell morphologies are included as a visual guide. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first qualitative assessment of P. alecto leukocytes, as well as the first set of published hematology reference images for this species.

| S-EPMC9132326 | biostudies-literature

Evidence of endemic Hendra virus infection in flying-foxes (Pteropus conspicillatus)--implications for disease risk management.

Project description:This study investigated the seroepidemiology of Hendra virus in a spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) population in northern Australia, near the location of an equine and associated human Hendra virus infection in late 2004. The pattern of infection in the population was investigated using a serial cross-sectional serological study over a 25-month period, with blood sampled from 521 individuals over six sampling sessions. Antibody titres to the virus were determined by virus neutralisation test. In contrast to the expected episodic infection pattern, we observed that seroprevalence gradually increased over the two years suggesting infection was endemic in the population over the study period. Our results suggested age, pregnancy and lactation were significant risk factors for a detectable neutralizing antibody response. Antibody titres were significantly higher in females than males, with the highest titres occurring in pregnant animals. Temporal variation in antibody titres suggests that herd immunity to the virus may wax and wane on a seasonal basis. These findings support an endemic infection pattern of henipaviruses in bat populations suggesting their infection dynamics may differ significantly from the acute, self limiting episodic pattern observed with related viruses (e.g. measles virus, phocine distemper virus, rinderpest virus) hence requiring a much smaller critical host population size to sustain the virus. These findings help inform predictive modelling of henipavirus infection in bat populations, and indicate that the life cycle of the reservoir species should be taken into account when developing risk management strategies for henipaviruses.

| S-EPMC3237542 | biostudies-literature

Dispersal out of Wallacea spurs diversification of <i>Pteropus</i> flying foxes, the world's largest bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera).

Project description:AimIslands provide opportunities for isolation and speciation. Many landmasses in the Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA) are oceanic islands, and founder-event speciation is expected to be the predominant form of speciation of volant taxa on these islands. We studied the biogeographic history of flying foxes, a group with many endemic species and a predilection for islands, to test this hypothesis and infer the biogeographic origin of the group.LocationAustralasia, Indo-Australian Archipelago, Madagascar, Pacific Islands.TaxonPteropus (Pteropodidae).MethodsTo infer the biogeographic history of Pteropus, we sequenced up to 6169 bp of genetic data from 10 markers and reconstructed a multilocus species tree of 34 currently recognized Pteropus species and subspecies with 3 Acerodon outgroups using BEAST and subsequently estimated ancestral areas using models implemented in BioGeoBEARS.ResultsSpecies-level resolution was occasionally low because of slow rates of molecular evolution and/or recent divergences. Older divergences, however, were more strongly supported and allow the evolutionary history of the group to be inferred. The genus diverged in Wallacea from its common ancestor with Acerodon; founder-event speciation out of Wallacea was a common inference. Pteropus species in Micronesia and the western Indian Ocean were also inferred to result from founder-event speciation.Main conclusionsDispersal between regions of the IAA and the islands found therein fostered diversification of Pteropus throughout the IAA and beyond. Dispersal in Pteropus is far higher than in most other volant taxa studied to date, highlighting the importance of inter-island movement in the biogeographic history of this large clade of large bats.

| S-EPMC7546435 | biostudies-literature

Time of year, age class and body condition predict Hendra virus infection in Australian black flying foxes (Pteropus alecto).

Project description:Hendra virus (HeV) continues to cause fatal infection in horses and threaten infection in close-contact humans in eastern Australia. Species of Pteropus bats (flying-foxes) are the natural reservoir of the virus. We caught and sampled flying-foxes from a multispecies roost in southeast Queensland, Australia on eight occasions between June 2013 and June 2014. The effects of sample date, species, sex, age class, body condition score (BCS), pregnancy and lactation on HeV antibody prevalence, log-transformed median fluorescent intensity (lnMFI) values and HeV RNA status were assessed using unbalanced generalised linear models. A total of 1968 flying-foxes were sampled, comprising 1012 Pteropus alecto, 742 P. poliocephalus and 214 P. scapulatus. Sample date, species and age class were each statistically associated with HeV RNA status, antibody status and lnMFI values; BCS was statistically associated with HeV RNA status and antibody status. The findings support immunologically naïve sub-adult P. alecto playing an important role in maintaining HeV infection at a population level. The biological significance of the association between BCS and HeV RNA status, and BCS and HeV antibody status, is less clear and warrants further investigation. Contrary to previous studies, we found no direct association between HeV infection and pregnancy or lactation. The findings in P. poliocephalus suggest that HeV exposure in this species may not result in systemic infection and virus excretion, or alternatively, may reflect assay cross-reactivity with another (unidentified) henipavirus.

| S-EPMC6625375 | biostudies-literature

Novel Hendra Virus Variant Circulating in Black Flying Foxes and Grey-Headed Flying Foxes, Australia.

Project description:A novel Hendra virus variant, genotype 2, was recently discovered in a horse that died after acute illness and in Pteropus flying fox tissues in Australia. We detected the variant in flying fox urine, the pathway relevant for spillover, supporting an expanded geographic range of Hendra virus risk to horses and humans.

| S-EPMC9045453 | biostudies-literature

Lyssavirus in Indian Flying Foxes, Sri Lanka.

Project description:A novel lyssavirus was isolated from brains of Indian flying foxes (Pteropus medius) in Sri Lanka. Phylogenetic analysis of complete virus genome sequences, and geographic location and host species, provides strong evidence that this virus is a putative new lyssavirus species, designated as Gannoruwa bat lyssavirus.

| S-EPMC4982157 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

Tweets

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data