Female reproductive patterns in nonhibernating bats

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) The major reproductive events in the oestrous cycles of nonhibernating mega- and microchiropteran species are reviewed. However, special attention is given to the reproductive biology of the temperate North American species, Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana (Molossidae), the Mexican free-tailed bat, which expresses dextral uterine and ovarian dominance. Only the larger right ovary is capable of producing an ovulatory follicle and the left has long been considered atrophic. In order to elucidate the normal oestrous cycle and define the structural and functional characteristics of the ovaries of this nonhibernating bat several analytical techniques were utilized. These included light microscopic analysis, histochemical localization of \g=D\5-3\g=b\-hydroxysteroiddehydrogenase (HSD) activity, and radioimmunoassay of seasonal plasma progesterone levels.