Bat trait, genetic and pathogen data from large-scale investigations of African fruit bats, Eidolon helvum

Peel, A. J. et al. (2016) Bat trait, genetic and pathogen data from large-scale investigations of African fruit bats, Eidolon helvum. Scientific Data, 3, 160049. (doi: 10.1038/sdata.2016.49) (PMID:27479120) (PMCID:PMC4968192)

Abstract

Bats, including African straw-coloured fruit bats (Eidolon helvum), have been highlighted as reservoirs of many recently emerged zoonotic viruses. This common, widespread and ecologically important species was the focus of longitudinal and continent-wide studies of the epidemiological and ecology of Lagos bat virus, henipaviruses and Achimota viruses. Here we present a spatial, morphological, demographic, genetic and serological dataset encompassing 2827 bats from nine countries over an 8-year period. Genetic data comprises cytochrome b mitochondrial sequences (n=608) and microsatellite genotypes from 18 loci (n=544). Tooth-cementum analyses (n=316) allowed derivation of rare age-specific serologic data for a lyssavirus, a henipavirus and two rubulaviruses. This dataset contributes a substantial volume of data on the ecology of E. helvum and its viruses and will be valuable for a wide range of studies, including viral transmission dynamic modelling in age-structured populations, investigation of seasonal reproductive asynchrony in wide-ranging species, ecological niche modelling, inference of island colonisation history, exploration of relationships between island and body size, and various spatial analyses of demographic, morphometric or serological data.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lembo, Dr Tiziana
• Authors: Peel, A. J., Baker, K. S., Hayman, D. T. S., Suu-Ire, R., Breed, A. C., Gembu, G.-C., Lembo, T., Fernández-Loras, A., Sargan, D. R., Fooks, A. R., Cunningham, A. A., and Wood, J. L. N.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Scientific Data
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• ISSN: 2052-4463
• ISSN (Online): 2052-4463
• Published Online: 01 August 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 Peel, A. J. et al.
• First Published: First published in Scientific Data 3:160049
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License