Comment on “Cognition-mediated evolution of low-quality floral nectars”

Abstract

Nachev et al. (Reports, 6 January 2017, p. 75) present dilute nectar in bat-pollinated plants as “paradoxical” because bats prefer concentrated nectar, but paradox disappears with realistic assumptions about nectar evolution. We argue that they make unrealistic assumptions about the cognitive abilities of bat pollinators, invoke Weber’s law inappropriately, and cannot predict observed nectar concentrations of bat flowers or negative correlations between pollinator body size and average concentration.