Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

SU biology professor: big brain not key to evolutionary success in bats

Tuesday, December 6, 2005, By News Staff
Share

SU biology professor: big brain not key to evolutionary success in batsDecember 06, 2005Carol K. Masiclatclkim@syr.edu

Syracuse University biology professor Scott Pitnick (left) knows a lot about the birds and the bees (or in this case, bats). He teaches courses in evolution and population biology, and researches topics such as sexual selection, sexual conflict and speciation. His latest research sheds light on a little-explored area of evolutionary biology: the contribution of sexual selection to brain evolution. “The brain can be considered the most important ‘sex organ,'” says Pitnick. “Nevertheless, the relationship between breeding system and relative brain size has received little investigation.”

A recent study by Pitnick and colleagues Dr. Kate Jones of the Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London and Dr. Jerry Wilkinson of the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland was funded by the National Science Foundation and used comparative analysis to show that bat species that roost in larger social groups and those with promiscuous females have relatively smaller brains than species with females that are faithful to their mates. Male infidelity, by contrast, had no evolutionary impact on relative brain size.

According to Pitnick, a likely explanation for this relationship relates to the energetic demands of producing and maintaining both brain and sperm cells; males cannot afford a lot of both. Under this explanation, males with relatively large testes and small brains leave more offspring than larger-brained, less fertile, competitors.

“When females mate with more than one male, sperm compete to fertilize the female’s eggs. Such ‘sperm competition’ is rife in many bat species, perhaps due in part to the unusual ability (among mammals at least) of sperm to survive inside the female’s reproductive tract for a very long time,” says Pitnick. “Themale who ejaculates the greatest number of sperm may win at this game, and hence many bats have evolved outrageously big testes-as much as 8.5% of their body mass. Because they live on an energetic knife-edge, bats may not be able to evolutionarily afford both big testes and big brains. We’re excited about these results, as they may stimulate more research into the correlated evolution of brains, behavior and the extravagant and costly ornaments and armaments favored by sexual selection.”

The full results of Pitnick’s study have recently been published in Proceedings B (London), a biology journal of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom’s national academy of science.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Sam Clemence to Receive Deep Foundations Institute Legends Award
    Thursday, June 1, 2023, By Alex Dunbar
  • Applications Now Open for Spring 2024 Study Abroad Programs
    Thursday, June 1, 2023, By Ashley Barletta
  • June 30 Deadline Set for Fiscal 2023 Year End Business
    Wednesday, May 31, 2023, By News Staff
  • DPS Accepting Sign-Ups for R.A.D. Summer Session
    Wednesday, May 31, 2023, By Alex Haessig
  • Syracuse Stage Adds 2 Musicals to 50th Anniversary Season
    Wednesday, May 31, 2023, By Joanna Penalva

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse Views Spring 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Awards of Excellence Honoree: Maxwell has Been ‘a Guiding Hand’ in Public Service Career

Standing before an audience of fellow Maxwell School alumni gathered in Washington, D.C., for the second annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez ’09 shared the motivation behind his work as a journalist. Sanchez emigrated from Cuba as…

NASA Honoring Those Who Were Aboard Space Shuttle Columbia And Other Late Astronauts

Sean O’Keefe, University Professor in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for the USA Today article “Twenty years later, loss of space shuttle Columbia still teaches us lessons.” The article emphasizes how NASA’s Memorial Grove is used to honor late astronauts,…

NFL, Eagles and Chiefs All Set To Win The Economics Game In Super Bowl LVII

Rodney Paul, director and professor of sport analytics in the Falk School, was quoted in the Washington Examiner story “The economics of the Super Bowl: Hosting, gambling, ads, and more.” The article talks in-depth about all of the economics that…

CEOs Requiring In Person Work Is Hurting Diversity

Arlene Kanter, director of the Disability and Policy Program and professor in the College of Law, was interviewed for the Business Insider article “Some CEOs are pushing workers to return to the office, but it could come with a cost:…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.