Postnatal growth, wing development and age estimations in the Mediterranean horseshoe bat Rhinolophus euryale (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) in Kerend cave, western Iran

We quantified postnatal changes in body mass, length of forearm, length of total gap of the fourth metacarpal- phalangeal joint and changes in wing morphology, including the wingspan, wing area, handwing length, handwing area, armwing length, armwing area, aspect ratio and wing loading in Rhinolophus euryale in a maternity roost in Kerend cave, western Iran. Mean body mass of pups increased linearly until 23 days, when they achieved 74.29% of the mean mass of adult females (11.28 +/- 0.74 g, n = 12). Rates of body mass gain and forearm growth during the early stage of postnatal growth were 0.36 g/day and 1.41 mm/day, respectively. Length of epiphyseal gap increased during the first 3 weeks and subsequently followed by a linear decrease until day 70 when it closed. Wing characteristics increased linearly until the age of the first flight, after which growth rates significantly declined (all p < 0.05). Wing loading decreased linearly (-0.09 Nm(-2)/day) until 36 days of age and thereafter increased to a maximum of 6.56 +/- 0.30 Nm(-2) at 80 days of age. We compare our results with data obtained from close-related bat species, particularly Rhinolophus - mehelyi previously studied in a nearby area.