University of Antananarivo

About: University of Antananarivo is a education organization based out in Antananarivo, Madagascar. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Lemur. The organization has 1561 authors who have published 1703 publications receiving 30922 citations. The organization is also known as: Tananarive University & Antananarivo University.

Seasonal food habits of five sympatric forest microchiropterans in western madagascar

Abstract: We determined the foods habits of 5 species of microchiropteran bats (Hipposideros commersoni, Triaenops rufus, Triaenops furculus, Myotis goudoti, and Miniopterus manavi) in the austral winter and summer in a dry deciduous forest in western Madagascar using fecal analysis. We also assessed food availability and bat activity in 4 forest microhabitats. Despite overlap in dietary composition, H. commersoni consumed mainly Coleoptera; M. goudoti consumed mainly Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, and Araneae; M. manavi consumed mainly Hemiptera; and T. rufus and T. furculus consumed mainly Lepidoptera. Diptera were the most abundant insects in traps but were rarely encountered in feces. H. commersoni was not netted during the austral winter, but the other 4 species changed their diet according to seasonal availability, with lepidopterans the most important diet items in winter and coleopterans in summer. We consistently trapped a higher abundance of potential bat prey at the forest edge, whereas the forest interior was low in both food availability and bat activity. The 5 microchiropterans studied partitioned the available food mainly through dietary specialization, although spatial and temporal partitioning also may play a role. More research is needed to assess levels of dependency on forest by these bats, and to investigate the seasonal ecology of H. commersoni and interspecific competition between T. rufus and T. furculus.

Disentangling serology to elucidate henipa- and filovirus transmission in Madagascar fruit bats.

Abstract: 1. Bats are reservoirs for emerging human pathogens, including Hendra and Nipah henipaviruses and Ebola and Marburg filoviruses. These viruses demonstrate predictable patterns in seasonality and age structure across multiple systems; previous work suggests that they may circulate in Madagascar's endemic fruit bats, which are widely consumed as human food. 2. We aimed to (a) document the extent of henipa‐ and filovirus exposure among Malagasy fruit bats, (b) explore seasonality in seroprevalence and serostatus in these bat populations and (c) compare mechanistic hypotheses for possible transmission dynamics underlying these data. 3. To this end, we amassed and analysed a unique dataset documenting longitudinal serological henipa‐ and filovirus dynamics in three Madagascar fruit bat species. 4. We uncovered serological evidence of exposure to Hendra‐/Nipah‐related henipaviruses in Eidolon dupreanum, Pteropus rufus and Rousettus madagascariensis, to Cedar‐related henipaviruses in E. dupreanum and R. madagascariensis and to Ebola‐related filoviruses in P. rufus and R. madagascariensis. We demonstrated significant seasonality in population‐level seroprevalence and individual serostatus for multiple viruses across these species, linked to the female reproductive calendar. An age‐structured subset of the data highlighted evidence of waning maternal antibodies in neonates, increasing seroprevalence in young and decreasing seroprevalence late in life. Comparison of mechanistic epidemiological models fit to these data offered support for transmission hypotheses permitting waning antibodies but retained immunity in adult‐age bats. 5. Our findings suggest that bats may seasonally modulate mechanisms of pathogen control, with consequences for population‐level transmission. Additionally, we narrow the field of candidate transmission hypotheses by which bats are presumed to host and transmit potentially zoonotic viruses globally.