Tequila bats (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) are best known as the pollinator of the Blue Agave plant from which the drink of the same name is made from.
Scientists are studying this near-threatened animal by analyzing its DNA to help inform conservationists how to manage their populations. Their findings were published in Global Ecology and Conservation.
Tequila Bats Migrate From Mexico to the Sonoran Desert
Tequila bats are native to the Americas, where they live in caves in some of the hottest deserts in Mexico. Conservationists find it challenging to know whether they are protecting the best sites for the tequila bats to stay as these bats are highly mobile and migratory species like them tend to mix constantly with other bat populations.
Their populations are known to migrate in the spring months of Mexico to the Sonoran Desert to give birth to their offspring and pollinate a plant that is common in the region, including the Blue Agave plant.
But there are also tequila bat populations who inhabit Southern Mexico all year-round and forms large breeding colonies during the winter months.
Saving Their Population by DNA Analysis
This new study aims to help better inform conservationists of the breeding and migratory pattern of the tequila bats by determining whether the bats that inhabit in Southern Mexico all-year-round have a similar ancestral origin to those populations that migrate to the Sonoran Desert.
The DNA analysis conducted was important to understand how events from history may have shaped the current tequila bat populations. But to do this, a team of international scientists had to travel to remote caves in Mexico to gather DNA skin samples.
This team of scientists comprises researchers from the Univeristy of Bristol, the Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
"Tequila bats are beautiful, especially after they arrive back from feeding as they return covered in pollen, completely yellow, a sign of how important they are to this ecosystem," said Angelica Menchaca, Ph.D. a bat expert.
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She added that these species are easy to handle, unlike the other bat species that tend to be more aggressive. But their expedition to the desert was without hitches and dangers as they often hike in temperatures routinely exceeding 40 degrees Celsius and encounters wildlife such as rattlesnakes, scorpions, hares, reptiles and ring-tailed cats.
"Once we located the bat colony, our aim was to collect DNA skin samples from the bat's wing which heals quickly and doesn't harm them," says Menchaca.
The scientists would wait until the bats went out to forage for food at around midnight before they enter the caves that were filled with baby bats, all packed in their nurseries waiting for their parents to return.
Bats are often subjected to threats like habitat loss because their roosts are often disturbed, and humans fear them both from the myths and their potential as disease carriers, especially now during the pandemic. However, bats are very valuable to ecosystems and bring benefits t societies.
After the DNA analysis, the researchers were able to trace the maternal line of the different populations to understand the ancestral descent of the species.
Two Conservation Units Must Manage Tequila Bats in Mexico
According to Dr Menchaca, their study shows that tequila bats must be managed as two conservation units (CUs) in Mexico. Populations that migrate to the Sonoran Desert display a distinct migratory behavior during summer.
With the increasing rate of habitat loss and decreased appreciation as ecosystem service providers, it is important that their study can help support this species to survive the threats at this relevant time.
The scientists are studying other differences related to their behavior and morphology to understand better how they adapt to diverse habitats. But most importantly, as the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species has named tequila bats a "Near Threatened" species, this research will help inform conservationists management strategies to conserve the population of the tequila bats.
