Endocrinology reveals seasonal reproductive dynamics in three Malagasy fruit bats

In three Malagasy pteropodid fruit bats, hormone assays identified pregnancy and mating readiness, with female Pteropus rufus and Rousettus madagascarensis showing estradiol/progesterone peaks in August and October.

• Why it matters: Seasonal reproductive timing affects energetic demands and is important for conservation planning, yet reproductive seasonality is poorly characterized for many Madagascar fruit bat species.
• What they did: Using plasma samples from 2019–2020, the study adapted three human-validated reproductive hormone assays for bats and used a mixture model to set hormone cutoffs for pregnancy in females and mating readiness in males.
• The result: Pregnant females had the highest estradiol and progesterone, and adult males had the highest testosterone; these hormone-based classifications refine reproductive calendars for demographic modeling and conservation management of threatened Pteropodidae bats.

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