title: Bayesian hierarchical models suggest oldest known plant-visiting bat was omnivorous.
abstract: The earliest record of plant visiting in bats dates to the Middle Miocene of La Venta, the world's most diverse tropical palaeocommunity. Palynephyllum antimaster is known from molars that indicate nectarivory. Skull length, an important indicator of key traits such as body size, bite force and trophic specialization, remains unknown. We developed Bayesian models to infer skull length based on dental measurements. These models account for variation within and between species, variation between clades, and phylogenetic error structure. Models relating skull length to trophic level for nectarivorous bats were then used to infer the diet of the fossil. The skull length estimate for Palynephyllum places it among the larger lonchophylline bats. The inferred diet suggests Palynephyllum fed on nectar and insects, similar to its living relatives. Omnivory has persisted since the mid-Miocene. This is the first study to corroborate with fossil data that highly specialized nectarivory in bats requires an omnivorous transition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA laurel.yohe@stonybrook.edu.
authors.forename: Laurel R
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1567-8749
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Yohe
authors.affiliation: Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA.
authors.forename: Paúl M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7195-7422
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Velazco
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro 3810-193, Portugal.
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Beth E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Gerstner
authors.affiliation: Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA CIDER, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
authors.forename: Liliana M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4327-7697
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Dávalos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005580:Fossils; D007313:Insecta; D008963:Molar / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010802:Phylogeny; D057048:Plant Nectar; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology
chemical_list: D057048:Plant Nectar
keywords: Bayesian hierarchical models; La Venta; Phyllostomidae; nectarivory; phylogenetic regression