Presentation

The Laboratory of Ecophysiology of Chiroptera (LEC/UFV) was first established in 2005, under the overseeing of Dr. Mariella Freitas, and is now focused on investigating bats’ physiology and ecotoxicology.

We are interested on how different bat species developed physiological adaptations in response to different environmental conditions in the Neotropics, especially diet-related adaptations on energy metabolism, hormone secretion and renal function.

We recently also got interested on how chronic exposure to environmentally relevant doses of contaminants (specially endocrine disrupter chemicals (EDCS) impact their ability to regulate cell and body homeostasis, through measuring hormone concentrations, oxidative stress indices, histological alterations, and other important toxicity markers.