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Bats are the only mammals that can
fly. They are also among the only mammals known to feed on blood. Common
misconceptions and fears about bats have led many people to regard the
creatures as unclean disease carriers, but bats are actually very helpful in controlling
the population of crop-destroying insects.
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There are more than 900 species of
bats in the world. Some experts estimate the number to be as high as 1,200
species. Bats make up one-fifth of the mammal population on Earth, according toBat Conservation International.
· Size
Bats are divided into two main types:
megabats and microbats. Megabats (formally, bats in the Megachiroptera
suborder) include flying foxes and Old World fruit bats. They tend to be larger
than microbats (Microchiroptera suborder), but some microbats are actually
larger than some megabats.
Flying foxes (genus Pteropus) are the largest bats. Some species have
wingspans of 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters) and weigh up to 2.2 lbs. (998
grams), according to the Oakland Zoo. One of the smallest megabats, the
long-tongued fruit bat (Macroglossus minimus),
has a wingspan of only 10 inches (25.4 centimeters), according to the Smithsonian Institution. This bat weighs about half an
ounce (14 g).
Among microbats, the largest species
is the false vampire or spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum)
with a wingspan of up to 40 inches (1 meter). It weighs 5 to 6.7 ounces (145 to
190 g). The smallest bat is the bumblebee bat, according to the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. It grows to
only about 1.25 inches long (3 cm) and weighs about 2 grams (0.07 ounces).
· Habitat
Bats live all over the world, except
for some islands, and the Arctic and Antarctica. They mostly prefer warmer
areas that are closer to the equator, and they can be found in rain forests,
mountains, farmland, woods and cities. Bats have two strategies for weathering
the cold. Some migrate to warmer areas, while others go into torpor. In this
short-term form of hibernation, a bat reduces its metabolic rate, lowers its
body temperature, and slows its breathing and heart rate.
Bats roost in trees, caves, mines and
barns — anyplace that provides shelter from the weather, protection from
predators and seclusion for rearing the animals' young. Bats live together in
groups called colonies, which contain 100 to 1,000 bats. These mammals are also
nocturnal, meaning that they sleep during the day and are awake at night. Some
may fly up to 31 miles (50 kilometers) to find food during their nightly
journeys. In the day, they sleep upside down from trees or the roofs of caves,
holding on with their sharp claws. [Flying Mammals: Gallery of Spooky Bats]
· Diet
Most bats eat flowers, small insects,
fruits, nectar, pollen and leaves, though it depends on the type of bat.
Megabats usually eat fruits, and microbats generally eat insects.
The Malayan flying fox has a big
appetite. It can eat half its body weight every day. The vampire bat outdoes
even that, though, eating twice its weight in one day. The brown bat can eat up
to 1,000 small insects in an hour, according to the Defenders
of Wildlife organization.
Some bats will squeeze fruits in
their mouths and drink the juices. Vampire bats like a juice of a different
type, though. They do indeed drink blood, mainly from cattle and deer, but they
don't suck blood like the legends say. Rather, they make a V-shaped cut and
then lick up the blood, according to the San
Diego Zoo.
· Mating
habits
Bats have some unique mating
behaviors not seen in other animals. Male and female bats meet in hibernation
sites, called hibernacula, where they breed. "Bats 'swarm' around in huge
numbers, chasing each other and performing spectacular aerobatics,"
biologist John Altringham told Live Science in a 2013 article. [Related: Animal Sex: How Bats Do It]
It's not clear how the bats choose
their mates, Altringham said, but it may be that females seek out the most
agile males. During the swarming event, breeding pairs will go off to secluded
spots in the cave to mate in private.
Researchers have found that female short-nosed fruit bats perform oral sex on their mates to
prolong the act; male Indian flying foxes do the same thing to females.
Mating occurs in the late summer and
early autumn, and the females store the males' sperm until the next spring. A
pregnant female will carry her young for a gestation period of 40 days to six
months. Then, she will give birth to one baby, called a pup. The pup will weigh
about one-fourth as much as its mother at birth. Young bats drink milk from
their mothers to survive, much like other mammals.
The mothers and pups stay in groups,
separate from the males. The other mothers help take care of the pup until it
is old enough to care for itself.
· Classification/taxonomy
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The taxonomy of bats, according to the Integrated Taxonomic
Information System (ITIS), is:
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Kingdom: Animalia
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Phylum: Chordata
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Subphylum:
Vertebrata
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Class:
Mammalia
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Order:
Chiroptera
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Suborder:
Megachiroptera, Microchiroptera
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Family: There
are 16 families in the suborder Microchiroptera, and only one in
Macrochiroptera: Pteropodidae, which includes flying foxes and Old World fruit
bats.
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Genera: There
are 187 genera of bats.
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Species: There
are more than 950, and perhaps as many as 1,200 species of bats.