OPPORTUNITIES IN
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
 
 
Field Research in Colorado and the Caribbean Isles
and
The Chiropteran Research
Laboratory at UWW

    Laboratory research conducted in The Chiropteran Research Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater concerns analyses of the development of the skeleton of bats, the only true-flying mammal.  By using cleared and stained fetuses and juveniles, I quantify changes in developmental patterns that are responsible for morphogenesis of wings from the 'standard issue' mammalian hand-plate.  Developmental data give insight into the evolution of wings in mammals as well as the systematic relationships among the more than 900 species of bats living worldwide.  Therefore the integration of Ontogeny, Functional Ecology, and Evolution in the study of bats is paramount in understanding the natural history of this taxon.


          Early Embryo                          2nd Trimester                   Head of Artibeus jamaicensis

 

 
Skeletogenesis in Megaloglossus woermanni, a species of Megachiropteran.
Note the enlarged eye capsules indicating the dominant sensory modality of this group.
 
 
 

  Camera lucida drawings of M. lucifugus growth
 

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