DOI: 10.7291/d1qx26
title: Bat-flower trait matching: Extreme phenotypic specialization affects diet preferences but not diet breadth

description: Nectarivorous bats have evolved various adaptations to feeding from
 flowers, such as long, extensible tongues and the ability to hover. The
 champion of tongue length, Anoura fistulata, can extend its tongue 150% of
 its body length, yet little is known about its interactions with flowers
 in the wild. Here we analyzed the diet of A. fistulata and co-occurring
 nectar bats in eight sites across Ecuador. Results demonstrate that,
 despite its phenotypic specialization, A. fistulata is no more
 ecologically specialized in its dietary breadth than co-occurring nectar
 bats. However, it prefers deeper flowers and is the sole visitor to two
 species (Centropogon nigricans and Marcgravia williamsii) whose extremely
 deep flowers make their nectar inaccessible to other bats. Furthermore, A.
 fistulata only occurred in sites with at least one flower deeper than the
 tongue length of other nectar bats, suggesting it needs such a guaranteed
 nectar source to maintain a population. Finally, we found strong
 covariation across sites between the local tongue length of A. fistulata
 and the depth of the deepest flowers it visits. This suggests that the
 coevolutionary race that selected for the exceptional tongue length of
 this bat over time is also playing out in a geographic mosaic across
 space.
description: # Bat-flower trait matching: Extreme phenotypic specialization affects
 diet choices but not diet breadth
 [https://doi.org/10.7291/D1QX26](https://doi.org/10.7291/D1QX26) This
 README file was generated on 2023-12-18 by Rossana Maguiña-Conde 1\. Title
 of Dataset: Bat-flower trait matching: Extreme phenotypic specialization
 affects diet preferences but not diet breadth 2\. Author information: A.
 Principal Investigator contact information Name: Nathan C. Muchhala
 Institution: University of Missouri at Saint Louis Email:
 [muchhalan@umsl.edu](mailto:muchhalan@umsl.edu) B. Associated
 co-investigators \- Rossana Maguiña-Conde (corresponding author email’s
 [nrmaguina@gmail.com](mailto:nrmaguina@gmail.com)) \- Angelica Caiza \-
 Daniela Proaño 3\. Date of data collection: 2003-2016 4\. Geographic
 location of data collection: Country: Ecuador Site (Province) A. Reserva
 Bellavista (Pichincha) B. Bosque Macas Domono (Morona-Santiago) C. Reserva
 Floristica Rio Guajalito (Pichincha) D. San Francisco Scientific Station
 (Loja) E. Siempre Verde Reserve (Imabura) F. Tapichalaca Biological
 Reserve (Zamora Chinchipe) G. Yanayacu Biological Station (Napo) H.
 Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary (Napo) 5\. Information about funding sources
 that supported the collection of the data: National Geographic Society
 (Grant #8722-09) to Nathan C. Muchhala, and the Whitney R. Harris World
 Ecology Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis to Rossana
 Maguiña-Conde. ##### SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION 1\. Licenses/restrictions
 placed on the data: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain 2\. Links to
 publications that cite or use the data: Muchhala N., Maguina-Conde R.,
 Caiza A., and Proaño D. (2023). Bat-flower trait matching: Extreme
 phenotypic specialization affects diet preferences but not diet breadth.
 3\. Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: None 4\.
 Links/relationships to ancillary data sets: None 5\. Was data derived from
 another source? No A. If yes, list source(s): NA 6\. Recommended citation
 for this dataset: Maguina-Conde, Rossana (Forthcoming 2023). Bat-flower
 trait matching: Extreme phenotypic specialization affects diet choices but
 not diet breadth [Dataset]. Dryad.
 [https://doi.org/10.7291/D1QX26](https://doi.org/10.7291/D1QX26) #####
 DATA & FILE OVERVIEW 1\. File list: A. pollenpresence.csv B.
 flowers.csv C. tongues.csv 2\. Relationship between files, if important:
 NA 3\. Additional related data collected that was not included in the
 current data package: NA 4\. Are there multiple versions of the dataset?
 No A. If yes, name of file(s) that was updated: NA i. Why was the file
 updated? NA ii. When was the file updated? NA ##### DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: pollenpresence.csv 1\. Number of variables: 46 2\. Number
 of cases/rows: 22 3\. Variable list: \- Site: Site name where the data was
 collected \- Species: Nectar bat species \- N: Number of samples for each
 bat species/site combination \- Column 4 to 46 are plant species (or genus
 or family) of pollen grains found as part of the nectar bats diet. It
 indicates how many samples per bat species/site combination was positive
 for the presence of the pollen grains from such taxonomic group. 4\.
 Missing data code: None 5\. Specialized formats or other abbreviations
 used: None ##### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: flowers.csv 1\. Number of
 variables: 4 2\. Number of cases/rows: 138 3\. Variable list: -  Site:
 Site name where the data was collected \- Family: Family name of plant
 species sampled in the study \- Species: Plant species name from which
 flowers were measured \- Flower Length: Flower depth measured in
 millimeters 4\. Missing data code: None 5\. Specialized formats or other
 abbreviations used: None ##### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: tongues.csv
 1\. Number of variables: 3 2\. Number of cases/rows: 69 3\. Variable list:
 -  Site: Site name where the data was collected \- Species: Nectar bat
 species name from which tongues were measured \- Tongue: Tongue length
 measured in millimeters 4\. Missing data code: None 5\. Specialized
 formats or other abbreviations used: None ##### CODE/SOFTWARE No code
 provided