Lovely Leptos

I just got back from helping a student at the Mexican university UNAM with his thesis research on these gorgeous bats: Leptonycteris or Mexican Long-tounged bats. Leptonycteris or 'Leptos' for short, eat nectar and as you can see they get pollen stuck to their fur (the fuzzy white stuff on his head) which they take from flower to flower pollenating the plants they visit similar to bees. To understand how much energy these little bats need to obtain from their food and how much energy they use nightly we used something called 'the doubly labeled water method' which I will explain in another post so stay tuned. Meanwhile- recall bats are nocturnal so after working all night with a small break and again at 4am-6am I am going to say 'good-night' for now!

Getting ready for the field! Spring trip 2011

I am happily getting prepared for my next field trip. I plan on leaving for Mexico March 7th and visiting at least the 2 caves I work at in Puebla, Mexico and Morelos, Mexico. Additionally I hope to join a student who is working with one of my favorite bats: Leptonycteris (Mexican long-nosed bats). I hope to have lots of nice photos and stories to share during my trip!