Cynthia Elizalde-Arellano

Bio: Cynthia Elizalde-Arellano is an academic researcher from Instituto Politécnico Nacional. The author has contributed to research in topics: Predation & Ecology. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 20 publications receiving 121 citations. Previous affiliations of Cynthia Elizalde-Arellano include Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.

Home Range Size and Activity Patterns of Bobcats (Lynx rufus) in the Southern Part of their Range in the Chihuahuan Desert, Mexico

Abstract: Home range size, daily travel distances, and diel activity patterns are important characteristics of how an animal uses its home range area. In species, such as the bobcat (Lynx rufus), with large geographical ranges, it is necessary to gather data on diverse populations across the range to better understand what might be factors influencing these home range parameters. Although there are many studies of bobcats in more northern areas of its range in the United States, few data exist from its extensive southern range in Mexico. To fill this gap in information, we collected data on home range size, daily travel distances, and diel activity patterns of bobcats from the center of the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico. We compared our findings with available data from more northern studies and tested for any latitudinal trends in home range size. We trapped eight adult bobcats (four females and four males) between 2006 and 2008 at the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve in the Chihuahuan Desert. Each bobcat was equip...

Leucism in five species of bats from Mexico

Abstract: Leucism is a partial hypopigmentary congenital disorder previously recorded in Mexico in seven bat specimens of six species: one Artibeus phaeotis ; two A. jamaicensis; one A. watsoni ; one Carollia sowelli , one Glossophaga soricina , and one Tadarida brasiliensis. In August 2009 in the state of Hidalgo, we caught one Sturnira ludovici and one Artibeus lituratus (both females) exhibiting leucism. In addition, one leucistic Macrotus waterhousii was caught in April 2010 in Guerrero. Leucism has been infrequently reported and may be more common than suggested by published results. In order to evaluate this supposition, we checked the mammals collection of Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas (Instituto Politecnico Nacional) to look for other evidences of leucism in bats. We found six more specimens, three Artibeus jamaicensis and three Tadarida brasiliensis (collected in different years in the states of Aguascalientes, Hidalgo, and Puebla) that manifested leucism. These specimens raise to 15 the records of bats of nine species with leucism in Mexico.

Foraging of the bobcat (Lynx rufus) in the Chihuahuan Desert: generalist or specialist?

Abstract: We studied the diet and foraging behavior of bobcats (Lynx rufus) in the Chihuahuan Desert, Mexico, from 2005–2007 to test if bobcats will select energetically profitable prey, regardless of their relative abundance. We estimated frequency of occurrence and percentage of occurrence for species of prey in the diet through analysis of scats (n = 117) and evaluated selection of prey by comparing availability against consumption, based on biomass and number of prey consumed as represented in scats. Bobcats consumed a wide variety of prey, but rodents and lagomorphs dominated the diet. Species of prey were not consumed according to availability; combined lagomorphs had the highest probability of being selected based on densities and biomass despite their lower availability. Within lagomorphs, based on their availability, rabbits (Sylvilagus audubonii) were selected more often than jackrabbits. By analyzing the availability and biomass of prey against its consumption, we determined that bobcats do not ...

Nuevos registros de anfibios y reptiles para Guanajuato, procedentes de la reserva de la biosfera sierra gorda de Guanajuato y zonas adyacentes

Abstract: RESUMEN . La presente contribucion tiene como objetivo dar a conocer seis nuevos registros deanfibios y reptiles y confirmar la presencia de una especie en Guanajuato. Los ejemplares fueroncolectados entre los anos 2003 y 2006 en varias localidades de los municipios de San Luis de la Paz,Victoria y Xichu, que actualmente forman parte de la Reserva de la Biosfera “Sierra Gorda deGuanajuato” y se depositaron en la coleccion Herpetologica de la Escuela Nacional de CienciasBiologicas, del I.P.N. Los nuevos registros de anfibios son: Chaunus marinus y Ollotis nebulifer, los dereptiles son: Sceloporus variabilis, Plestiodon tetragrammus, Boa constrictor y Masticophis flagellum. El registro de Lithobates berlandieri confirma la presencia de esta especie en Guanajuato. Palabras clave: anfibios, reptiles, Guanajuato, nuevos registros. Campos-Rodriguez, J. I., C. Elizalde-Arellano, J. C. Lopez-Vidal, G. F. Aguilar-Martinez, S. N.Ramos-Reyes & R. Hernandez-Arciga. 2009. Noteworthy records of amphibians and reptiles ofGuanajuato, collected at the Biosphere Reserve of “Sierra Gorda of Guanajuato” and adjacentzones.

Food sharing behavior in the hairy-legged vampire bat Diphylla ecaudata

Abstract: 1Laboratorio de Cordados Terrestres, Depto. Zoologia, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n, Casco de Santo Tomas, CP. 11340, Mexico D.F. 2Laboratorio de Arqueozoologia, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Moneda no. 4 Col. Centro, CP. 06060, Mexico D.F. 3Instituto de Ecologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Ap. Postal 70-275 Circuito exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, CP. 04510 Mexico D.F. 4Instituto de Ecologia A.C., Centro Regional Durango, km 5 carr. Durango-Mazatlan, 34100, Durango, Dgo. Mexico 5Corresponding author: E-mail: thiadeno@hotmail.com

Citation classic - optimal foraging - a selective review of theory and tests

Abstract: Beginning with Emlen (1966) and MacArthur and Pianka (1966) and extending through the last ten years, several authors have sought to predict the foraging behavior of animals by means of mathematical models. These models are very similar,in that they all assume that the fitness of a foraging animal is a function of the efficiency of foraging measured in terms of some "currency" (Schoener, 1971) -usually energy- and that natural selection has resulted in animals that forage so as to maximize this fitness. As a result of these similarities, the models have become known as "optimal foraging models"; and the theory that embodies them, "optimal foraging theory." The situations to which optimal foraging theory has been applied, with the exception of a few recent studies, can be divided into the following four categories: (1) choice by an animal of which food types to eat (i.e., optimal diet); (2) choice of which patch type to feed in (i.e., optimal patch choice); (3) optimal allocation of time to different patches; and (4) optimal patterns and speed of movements. In this review we discuss each of these categories separately, dealing with both the theoretical developments and the data that permit tests of the predictions. The review is selective in the sense that we emphasize studies that either develop testable predictions or that attempt to test predictions in a precise quantitative manner. We also discuss what we see to be some of the future developments in the area of optimal foraging theory and how this theory can be related to other areas of biology. Our general conclusion is that the simple models so far formulated are supported are supported reasonably well by available data and that we are optimistic about the value both now and in the future of optimal foraging theory. We argue, however, that these simple models will requre much modification, espicially to deal with situations that either cannot easily be put into one or another of the above four categories or entail currencies more complicated that just energy.

Non-kin cooperation in bats

Abstract: Many bats are extremely social. In some cases, individuals remain together for years or even decades and engage in mutually beneficial behaviours among non-related individuals. Here, we summarize ways in which unrelated bats cooperate while roosting, foraging, feeding or caring for offspring. For each situation, we ask if cooperation involves an investment, and if so, what mechanisms might ensure a return. While some cooperative outcomes are likely a by-product of selfish behaviour as they are in many other vertebrates, we explain how cooperative investments can occur in several situations and are particularly evident in food sharing among common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) and alloparental care by greater spear-nosed bats (Phyllostomus hastatus). Fieldwork and experiments on vampire bats indicate that sharing blood with non-kin expands the number of possible donors beyond kin and promotes reciprocal help by strengthening long-term social bonds. Similarly, more than 25 years of recapture data and field observations of greater spear-nosed bats reveal multiple cooperative investments occurring within stable groups of non-kin. These studies illustrate how bats can serve as models for understanding how cooperation is regulated in social vertebrates.

Adult Vampire Bats Produce Contact Calls When Isolated: Acoustic Variation by Species, Population, Colony, and Individual

Abstract: Background: Bat pups produce individually distinct isolation calls to facilitate maternal recognition. Increasing evidence suggests that, in group-living bat species, adults often use similar calls to maintain contact. We investigated if isolated adults from all three species of the highly cooperative vampire bats (Phyllostomidae: Desmodontinae) would produce vocally distinct contact calls when physically isolated. Methods/Principal Findings: We assessed variation in contact calls recorded from isolated captive and wild-caught adult common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus), white-winged vampire bats (Diaemus youngi) and hairy-legged vampire bats (Diphylla ecaudata). We compared species-typical contact call structure, and used information theory and permuted discriminate function analyses to examine call structure variation, and to determine if the individuality of contact calls is encoded by different call features across species and populations. We found that isolated adult vampire bats produce contact calls that vary by species, population, colony, and individual. However, much variation occurred within a single context and individual. We estimated signature information for captive Diaemus (same colony), captive Desmodus (same colony), and wild Desmodus (different colonies) at 3.21, 3.26, and 3.88 bits, respectively. Contact calls from a captive colony of Desmodus were less individually distinct than calls from wild-caught Desmodus from different colonies. Both the degree of individuality and parameters encoding individuality differed between the bats from a single captive colony and the wildcaught individuals from different groups. This result is consistent with, but not sufficient evidence of, vocal convergence in groups. Conclusion: Our results show that adult vampire bats of all three species produce highly variable contact calls when isolated. Contact calls contain sufficient information for vocal discrimination, but also possess more intra-individual variation than is required for the sole purpose of identifying individuals.

Chromatic disorders in bats: a review of pigmentation anomalies and the misuse of terms to describe them

Abstract: Chromatic disorders in bats are being reported worldwide at an increasing rate. However, there is widespread misunderstanding and misuse of the associated terminology and concepts in the scientific literature. We conducted an extensive assessment and standardisation of published and unpublished cases of chromatic disorders in bats worldwide. Chromatic disorders have been recorded in at least 609 bats belonging to 115 species and 10 families (after correction of misused terms, 152 cases of albinism, 11 of leucism, 269 of piebaldism, 20 of hypomelanism, three of partial melanism and 94 of melanism; a further 60 records remain unclassified). Of the 354 records in which a location was given, 297 bats were found in closed roost sites, mainly caves, buildings, and mines and galleries, while just three were found roosting externally. This difference could be attributed to the greater monitoring effort employed in underground areas than in forests, and to the greater detectability of bats dwelling in caves and buildings than forest-dwelling species. Although reports of chromatic disorders in bats are reasonably well spread around the globe, there are large areas from which no disorders have ever been reported: the Central Amazon, almost all of Africa, northern Europe, and almost all of Asia and Oceania. This is likely to be attributable to either the disregard for information on chromatic disorders (e.g. Central Amazon) or to the low abundance of occurring species (e.g. northern Europe). In all, 40% of the records of leucism and piebaldism were misclassified as ‘partial albinism’; leucism was also often used to designate pied aberrations. We propose a standardised classification to distinguish between albinism, leucism, piebaldism, hypomelanism, melanism and partial melanism. Due to frequent confusion, we encourage scientists to follow this classification and we highlight the need to employ comprehensive terminology when describing chromatic disorders in scientific publications.