Fig. 1

Main steps of bat necropsy (Tadarida teniotis, adult, male). a) Pinning the bat to a sterile board to facilitate the necropsy and skinning along the ventral midline to visualize the pectoral muscles and the abdominal wall. b) Abdominal and thoracic cavities opened by incising the abdominal wall along the ventral midline and the costal margins and by incising the ribs on both sides of the sternum. Lungs (black asterisk) and heart (double white asterisks) are easily detectable in the thoracic cavity. The diaphragm divides the abdominal viscera (liver-triple white asterisks-spleen-#- and gastro-intestinal tract covered by omentum) from the thorax. c) Particular of the urogenital system. From top to bottom: kidneys (white asterisk), adrenal gland (#), testicle (black asterisks), urinary bladder and genital glands laterally to the urinary bladder (white arrow). d) All the viscera removed and individually examined. From the top, first line: gastro- intestinal tract. Second line from left to the right: heart, spleen, kidney and brain. Third line from left to the right: lung, liver, kidney, testicle with deferens and urinary bladder