Fig. 5. (A) Cumulative absorption versus time since ingestion of 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (3OMD-glucose; open circles, solid line), cellobiose (open triangle, broken line) and L-rhamnose (open square, dotted line) by Egyptian fruit bats. (B) The ratios of apparent absorption of L-rhamnose and 3OMD-glucose were calculated from the cumulative amounts absorbed in Fig. 5A. Assuming that absorption of L-rhamnose is passive, whereas the absorption of 3OMD-glucose represents the sum of passive plus mediated absorption, the ratio of the apparent absorption (L-rhamnose/3OMD-glucose) indicates the proportion of 3OMD-glucose absorption that occurs via the passive pathway. These data suggest that at least 60% of 3OMD-glucose absorption was passive, whatever time point one chooses to use in calculating apparent absorption rate (i.e. from zero to 5 min or zero to 2 h).