What is it about?
Freshwater fishes found in a tropical pool regularly enter a subterranean source of water. They do so mostly when fishing bats are active in the evening. If fish are experimentally attracted to the pool during this period, fishing bat activity increases. Laboratory studies demonstrate that avoiding open areas in the evening is characteristic of these fishes. Predation by fishing bats can be a selective pressure favoring cave dwelling, an alternative hypothesis on the origin of cave colonization to entrapment and directional evolution.
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Why is it important?
Gives an example of an active cave colonization process by means of predation avoidance.
Perspectives
It shows the importance of doing field work to explain natural processes.
Dr. Aldemaro Romero, Jr.
University of Miami
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cave Colonization by Fish: Role of Bat Predation, The American Midland Naturalist, January 1985, JSTOR,
DOI: 10.2307/2425342.
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