This readme file was generated on [2022-08-04] by [G.E. MARSDEN] GENERAL INFORMATION Title of Dataset: Marsden et al_ Urban Tolerance of African Bats.xlsx Author/Principal Investigator Information Name: Genevieve E Marsden ORCID:0000-0002-8589-3674 Institution: University of KwaZulu-Natal Address: School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South Africa Email: gmarsden94@gmail.com Author/Associate or Co-investigator Information Name: M. Corrie Schoeman ORCID:0000-0003-3736-0264 Institution: University of KwaZulu-Natal Address: School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South Africa Email: m.corrie.schoeman@gmail.com Author/Alternate Contact Information Name: Dalene Vosloo ORCID:0000-0002-1341-1859 Institution: University of KwaZulu-Natal Address: School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South Africa Email: m.corrie.schoeman@gmail.com Date of data collection: 2016-06-01 to 2021-07-31 Geographic location of data collection: African Continent Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: South African National Research Foundation SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: N/A Links to publications that cite or use the data: N/A Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: N/A Links/relationships to ancillary data sets: N/A Was data derived from another source? Yes If yes, list source(s): ACR., 2018. African chiroptera report, AfricanBats NPC, Pretoria. Kingdon, J., 2013. Mammals of Africa Volume IV: Hedgehogs, shrews and bats, 1st ed. BloomsburyPublishing. Maloney, S.K., Bronner, G.N., Buffenstein, R., 1999. Thermoregulation in the Angolan Free‐Tailed Bat Mops condylurus : A small mammal that uses hot roosts. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 72, 385–396. https://doi.org/10.1086/316677 Monadjem, A., 2016. A conservation assessment of Neoromicia capensis 1–4. Monadjem, A., Taylor, P.J., Cotterill, F.P.D., Schoeman, M.., 2020. Bats of Southern and Central Africa. Afr. J. Ecol. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2028.2011.01299.x Naidoo, S., Mackey, R., Schoeman, M.C., 2011. Foraging ecology of insectivorous bats (Chiroptera) at a polluted and an unpolluted river in an urban landscape. Durban Museum Novit. 34, 21–28. Noer, C.L., Dabelsteen, T., Bohmann, K., Monadjem, A., 2012. Molossid Bats in an African Agro-Ecosystem Select Sugarcane Fields as Foraging Habitat. African Zool. 47, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3377/004.047.0120 O’Malley, K.D., Kunin, W.E., Town, M., Mgoola, W.O., Stone, E.L., 2020. Roost selection by Mauritian tomb bats (Taphozus mauritianus) in Lilongwe city, Malawi - importance of woodland for sustainable urban planning. PLoS One 15, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240434 Schoeman, M.C., 2016. Light pollution at stadiums favors urban exploiter bats. Anim. Conserv. 19, 120–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12220 Schoeman, M.C., Waddington, K.J., 2011. Do deterministic processes influence the phenotypic patterns of animalivorous bat ensembles at urban rivers? African Zool. 46, 288–301. https://doi.org/10.3377/004.046.0208 Personal communications with: P. Webala, I. Tanshi and M.C. Schoeman Recommended citation for this dataset: Marsden G.E., Vosloo D., Schoeman M.C., 2022, Urban tolerance Data for African insectivorous bats [Data File]. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k3j9kd5b9 DATA & FILE OVERVIEW File List: Urban tolerance Data for African insectivorous bats_GEM.xlsx: Data for 68 species of insectivorous bats in Africa stating aspect ratio, wing loading, peak echolocation frequency, roost specificity and functional group. Relationship between files, if important: N/A Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package: Are there multiple versions of the dataset? No If yes, name of file(s) that was updated: Why was the file updated? When was the file updated? METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION Data compiled for 54 African insectivorous bat species using ACR (2018), Kingdon (2013) and Monadjem et al. (2020). Data for each species includes aspect ratio, wing loading, peak echolocation frequency, roost specificity and functional group. Roost specificity for each species was scored as: 1 roost type = high, 2 roost types = medium,  3 roost types = low. Peak echolocation frequency was scored as low (<30 kHz), medium (30-60 kHz) or high (>60 kHz). Aspect ratio was scored as low (5-7 B2/s), medium (7-8 B2/s) or high (8-10 B2/s), and wing loading as low (0-10 N/m2), medium (10-15 N/m2) or high (15-25 N/m2). We also scored presence (1) or absence (0) in urban roosts (personal communication P. Webala, I. Tanshi and M.C. Schoeman; Maloney et al., 1999; Monadjem, 2016; Naidoo et al., 2011; Noer et al., 2012; O’Malley et al., 2020; Schoeman, 2016; Schoeman and Waddington, 2011) Based on functional group and use of urban areas and roosts, we categorised bats into urban exploiters (open air bats that predominately use urban resources), urban adapters (clutter or clutter-edge bats that use urban resources) or urban avoiders (bats that do not use urban resources) after Jung and Kalko (2011) and Schoeman (2016). DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: [Urban tolerance Data for African insectivorous bats_GEM.xlsx] Number of variables: 11 Number of cases/rows: 54 Variable List: 1. Species (Binomial species names) 2. Functional Group ("clutter", "clutter-edge" or "open air" guild description based on habitat space wing morphology and echolocation are adapted for) 3. Urban Presence (0=absent; 1=present) 4. Echolocation (Peak echolocation frequency (kHz): low = <30 kHz; medium = 30-60 kHz; high = >60 kHz) 5. Roost Specificity (1 roost type = high, 2 roost types = medium, 3 or more roost types = low) 6. Wing Loading (low = 0-10 N/m2; medium = 10-15 N/m2; high = 15-25 N/m2) 7. Aspect Ratio (low = 5-7 B2/s; medium = 7-8 B2/s; high = 8-10 B2/s) 8. Urban Tolerance (classifications of "urban avoider" , "urban adapter" and "urban exploiter") 9. Source(s) of Urban Observation (Literature source for the observation of urban presence) 10. Region(s) of Urban Observation (Specific city (or cities) and country(s) where urban presence was observed) 11. Collection Methods of Urban Observation (The method of collection of bats observed in urban areas for sources and cities references)