This first PhD expedition in Panama is the opportunity for me to discover my bat model species, Molossus molossus, in its environment and to learn all the fieldwork techniques. Over the last few days, with the help of the fieldwork team, I have practiced catching, measuring, equiping bats with transponders (~ intern chip) and also radiotracking with transmitters.
Extra to my model species, we also caught 3 other bat species (Myotis and Phyllostomidae, on which I worked during my Master's research internships): Myotis nigricans/riparius, Carollia perspicillata and Uroderma bicolor. Yesterday, we catch the last one with some green fruits looking like figs. A few individuals of this same species are roosting on my housing building. Looking forward to the next species ! Next might be the frog-eating bat (Trachops cirrhosus), a model species studied in Rachel Page's batlab, nextdoor to mine !
Extra to my model species, we also caught 3 other bat species (Myotis and Phyllostomidae, on which I worked during my Master's research internships): Myotis nigricans/riparius, Carollia perspicillata and Uroderma bicolor. Yesterday, we catch the last one with some green fruits looking like figs. A few individuals of this same species are roosting on my housing building. Looking forward to the next species ! Next might be the frog-eating bat (Trachops cirrhosus), a model species studied in Rachel Page's batlab, nextdoor to mine !