Socially transmitted knowledge of hibernation sites in bats

Abstract

In temperate regions around the world, bats travel long distances every winter to gather at hibernation sites. A longstanding hypothesis is that each new generation of bats learns about the locations of these sites (called hibernacula) from older individuals, yet clear and compelling evidence demonstrating social transmission of this knowledge has been lacking. Here, we compiled 30,882 observations from 1985 to 2023 of 13,852 Greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) that were banded and observed at summer roosts, winter hibernacula, or both. Our analyses revealed four lines of evidence that Greater mouse-eared bats find suitable hibernacula using social information acquired at summer roosts. First, naive yearlings were more likely to be seen sharing their first hibernacula with adults from their summer birth colony relative to a null model where bats moved independently. Second, adult bats were also more likely to co-switch together into the same hibernacula across winters than expected from independent movements. Third, bats that roosted together in the summer were more likely to share a different site as a hibernaculum during the winter: being observed together during a summer changed the probability of a pair being observed together during a winter from 5% to 12%. Finally, high-resolution tracking revealed an instance of tandem flights to hibernacula sites during the summer, demonstrating that yearlings can learn from experienced adult bats months before hibernation. Together, our findings show that maternity colonies serve as "information centers" where females acquire knowledge of suitable hibernation sites throughout their long lives.