Research paper
First experimental study on the effects of digestion on bat (Mammalia, Chiroptera) skeletal elements
PATRICIA CANALES-BRELLENTHIN
Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. C/José Antonio Novais, 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain. pcanal01@ucm.es
Transdiciplinary Center for Quaternary Research, Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia Chile.
Corresponding author
YOLANDA FERNÁNDEZ-JALVO
Departamento de Paleobiogía. Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Madrid, C/ José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain. yfj@mncn.csic.es
PALOMA SEVILLA
Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. C/José Antonio Novais, 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain. psevilla@ucm.es
ABSTRACT
Taphonomic studies dealing with small mammals do not usually consider bats. Therefore, the degree to which bat bones are modified by predation and other taphonomic agents are largely unknown. Here we present the results obtained from a set of experiments developed to approach this issue, focusing initially on the effect of digestion. For this purpose several bat bones and teeth were exposed to HCl and to two different proteolithic enzymes. The experiments showed that bat bones are altered by acidic and enzymatic attack in a similar way as the bones of other small mammals. However, some patterns were observed in the teeth that had not been previously described in other groups. Thus, both the intensity of alteration in a tooth and the way in which it advanced during the process varied depending on whether it was an upper or lower tooth, its size or its position in the tooth-row.
Key words: Experimental study, small mammals, Chiroptera, digestion, proteolithic enzymes, acidic attack, hydrochloric acid.
How to cite: Canales-Brellenthin, P., Fernández-Jalvo, Y. & Sevilla, P. 2018. Primer estudio experimental sobre los efectos de la digestión en restos esqueléticos de murciélagos (Mammalia: Chiroptera). [First experimental study on the effects of digestion on bat (Mammalia, Chiroptera) skeletal elements]. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 33 (2), 345-362.
Received 20 December 2017, Accepted 26 November 2018, Published 31 December 2018
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.33.2.13607
(Spanish only ) 
