title: Bat Predation by Cercopithecus Monkeys: Implications for Zoonotic Disease Transmission.
abstract: The relationship between bats and primates, which may contribute to zoonotic disease transmission, is poorly documented. We provide the first behavioral accounts of predation on bats by Cercopithecus monkeys, both of which are known to harbor zoonotic disease. We witnessed 13 bat predation events over 6.5 years in two forests in Kenya and Tanzania. Monkeys sometimes had prolonged contact with the bat carcass, consuming it entirely. All predation events occurred in forest-edge or plantation habitat. Predator-prey relations between bats and primates are little considered by disease ecologists, but may contribute to transmission of zoonotic disease, including Ebolavirus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Rd., Social Science Building 187, Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA. etapanes@fau.edu.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tapanes
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Rd., Social Science Building 187, Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA.
authors.forename: Kate M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Detwiler
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology and New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cords
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002521:Cercopithecus; D002685:Chiroptera; D029043:Ebolavirus; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D000882:Haplorhini; D007630:Kenya; D013636:Tanzania; D015047:Zoonoses
keywords: Africa; Ebola virus; disease ecology; emerging infectious disease; guenon; zoonoses