Assistant professor of biology

DeeAnn Reeder, assistant professor of biology, says bats are unlike any other mammals.

She calls them "mammals on the edge" because they are the only mammals that truly fly, making them ecologically and physiologically distinct. "If you want to study a process, you need to choose an animal model that provides a good example. I am interested in how animals adapt to changes in the world around them and bats do that very, very well," says Reeder. 

And bats are good subjects because they are easy to catch and draw blood from. "We measure stress hormones and if we want to know baseline levels we must collect blood samples from ‘unstressed’ animals. It is hard to trap most mammals quickly and get blood from them without stressing them. With bats, we catch them in a net and get a sample in less than three minutes," she says.

This fall, Reeder analyzed data with her students. The data come from transponders that measure body temperature changes and were attached to the bats as they hibernated last winter. "The bats don’t really sleep but they do lower their body temperature and shut down many body functions while they are in their winter caves," she explains. "What was surprising to us is that they also warm up fairly frequently during the winter. This uses up precious energy reserves, so it must happen for an important reason."

Her hypothesis? "I think they might warm-up to keep their immune systems functioning to ward off microbial pathogens while they hibernate."

Reeder also is an internationally-recognized taxonomist. Her book, "Mammal Species of the World," edited with Don E. Wilson from the Smithsonian Institution, is the world standard resource for taxonomic relationships among mammals. 

"Bucknell has been incredibly supportive of my research, both my work in ecophysiology and in mammalian taxonomy. Bucknell has even built a database for the storage of the taxonomic data that is available through the Bucknell  Web site and gets 5,000 hits a day," says Reeder.

Reeder also is involved in an international project with scientific and humanitarian aspects. She'll travel to Sudan in 2008 with her family and a student to survey local bat populations and attitudes toward wildlife and bring money and resources to local orphanages.

Teaching areas

• Comparative physiology
• Mammalogy
• Behavioral neuroendocrinology
• Organismal biology

Research interests

• Comparative behavior and physiology in mammals
• Stress responsiveness in nature
• Mammalian systematics and biodiversity

Recent publications

D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds.), 2005, Mammal Species of the World, A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Third Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md.

D. M. Reeder, K. M. Helgen, and D. E. Wilson, 2007, Global Trends and Biases in New Mammal Species Discoveries. Occasional Papers, Museum of Texas Tech University, 269:1-36.

D. M. Reeder, H. Raff, T. H. Kunz, and E. P. Widmaier, 2006, Characterization of Pituitary-Adrenocortical Activity in the Malayan Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus). Journal of Comparative Physiology, B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, 176(6):513-519.

D. M. Reeder, N. S. Kosteczko, T. H. Kunz, and E. P. Widmaier, 2006, The hormonal and behavioral response to group formation, seasonal changes and restraint stress in the highly social Malayan Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus) and the less social Little Golden-mantled Flying Fox (P. pumilus) (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae). Hormones & Behavior, 49:484-500.

D. M. Reeder and E. P. Widmaier. In Press. Hormone Analysis. In, Ecological and Behavioral Methods for the Study of Bats, Second edition.