Parental Behavior in the African Yellow-Winged Bat (Lavia frons)

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Abstract
The parental behavior of five monogamous pairs of African yellow-winged bats (Lavia frons) was observed in Kenya. Each female bore a single young, which clung to its mother continuously until about one week before it first flew and foraged. Newly volant young foraged with their parents and soon developed foraging performance that closely resembled that of their parents. Young were weaned about 20 days after becoming volant. Until at least 50 days after its first flight, each young shared its parents' territory, synchronized its grooming and foraging periods with those of its parents, and periodically huddled against its mother when roosting. Recurring but unpredictable periods of low insect density have seemingly selected for an extended period of parent-young association, during which the young become skilled opportunistic foragers.

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