Bats practice social detachment when sick, according to study – News

New research shows that bats distance themselves socially when they’re sick, spend less time with others, and interact with fewer groupmates.

The behavior had previously been observed in the laboratory, but researchers at Ohio State University in the United States have now verified the same with wild vampire bats in Belize, Central America. The study was published in the Behavioral Ecology journal.

The scientists tracked a group of bats living inside a hollow tree, equipping them with tiny proximity sensors to find out how they interacted socially.

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The researchers even injected 16 bats with a substance called lipopolysaccharide, which caused their immune systems to temporarily react as if they were sick, to see if their behavior would change.

In total, there were 31 bats on the tree. The remaining 15 animals received saline injections that did not interfere with their immune systems.

The researchers say none of the bats were injured during the experiment.

Less social interaction

It was observed that “sick” bats interacted with about four fewer bats than healthy animals.

They did not want to participate in mutual rituals and cures, they moved less and acted more sleepily than others.

This behavioral difference decreased six hours after the injection and when the bats slept or went out in search of food.

After 48 hours, the effects of the injection disappeared completely and the bats were again as sociable as before.

Feeling sick, the bats would reduce the likelihood of spreading a virus by spending less time with healthy bats, the researchers say.

The lead author of the study, Simon Ripperger, calls this “passive social detachment” and believes this behavior may be more common in the animal kingdom than we know.

“The sensors have given us a surprising new window into how the social behavior of these bats has changed by the hour and even by the minute during the day and night, even as they hid in the darkness of a hollow tree,” Ripperger said.

Passive social detachment is compared to what humans do when they are in bed when they feel bad, instead of being with other people.

The behavior is beneficial for the overall health of a group of animals, because it makes it less likely that a disease will spread.

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