Abstract

VELA-VARGAS, I. Mauricio; PEREZ-PABON, Laura; LARRAIN, Paloma  and  PEREZ-TORRES, Jairo. Vaginal smears: a key source of information on the estrous cycle of Neotropical bats. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2016, vol.23, n.1, pp.139-145. ISSN 0327-9383.

The use of vaginal smears for the study of the reproductive patterns of Neotropical bats has not been employed using a standardized protocol. We developed and evaluated a protocol, based on this technique, for the identification of the estrous cycle in an assemblage of bats in the Caribbean region of Colombia. The protocol for vaginal smears in bats was performed in three phases: 1) sampling in the field, 2) staining of vaginal smears, and 3) vaginal cell counts. Vaginal smears were taken and external reproductive characteristics were determined in the field. The results of these two data sets were compared for estimation of estrous status. Significant differences were detected between the proportions of different types of vaginal cells found in the smear samples. Overall, 95% of the females characterized as reproductively inactive based on external traits were found to be reproductively active according to vaginal smear characteristics; the remaining percentage of inactive reproductive cases coincided with the information obtained from vaginal smear technique. The use of the vaginal smear protocol allows the accurate determination and quantification of the reproductive status of individuals and populations of Neotropical bats. We conclude that this protocol offers a standardized method for the collection of individual reproductive status information in Neotropical bats.

Keywords : Chiroptera; Oestral cycle; Protocol; Reproductive evaluation; Vaginal smear.