Bats

Common Name:

Bats

Scientific Name:

Chiroptera

Diet:

Carnivore

Group Name:

Colony

Average Life Span In The Wild:

30 years

Size:

less than two inches - 11 inches; wingspan: 5 inches - 6 feet

Weight:

.07 ounces - 3.3 pounds

For centuriesbats have been called sinister and spookylikely because of their beady eyes and razor-sharp fangs. But there’s more to these nocturnal creatures than meets the eyes. There are more than 1,300 species of bats in the worldmaking them the second most common group of mammals after rodents. Some weigh less than a pennywhile others have a wingspan of six feetbut all are impressive and vital members of their ecosystems.

Winging it

The scientific name for bats is Chiropterawhich is Greek for “hand wing.” That’s because bats have four long fingers and a thumbeach connected to the next by a thin layer of skin. They are the only mammals in the world that can flyand they are remarkably good at it. Their flexible skin membrane and movable joints allow them to change direction quickly and catch mosquitoes in midair.

Classification

There are two main types of bats: microbats and megabats. Most bats are microbatswhich eat insects like mothsthat come out at night. Vampire bats are the only species of microbats that feed on blood rather than insects. But not to worry—they prefer to drink from cattle and horsesnot humans.

To navigate dark caves and hunt after darkmicrobats rely on echolocationa system that allows them to locate objects using sound waves. They echolocate by making a high-pitched sound that travels until it hits an object and bounces back to them. This echo tells them an object’s size and how far away it is.

In contrastmegabats live in the tropics and eat fruitnectarand pollen. They have larger eyes and a stronger sense of smell than microbats but have smaller ears because they don’t echolocate. There are more than 150 species of megabatswhich are usuallybut not alwayslarger than microbats.

Roosting

Bats can be found nearly everywhereexcept in polar regionsextreme desertsand a few isolated islands. They spend their daylight hours hiding in roosts around the tropicsdense forestsand wetlands. Roosts are where bats go to restusually in cracks and crevices that keep them hidden and protected. The most common roosts are existing structures such as cavestree hollowsand old buildings.

Seasons often dictate where any bats choose their homes. depending on the time of year because they hibernate during the winter. For examplein the wintersome may hibernate in cavesand in the summerthey’ll return to an attic. Because good roosts can be hard to findmany live in giant colonies with millions of other bats.

No matter where they spend their seasonsall bats roost upside down. They can hang from their hind feet and legs while resting. Scientists still aren’t sure why bats do thisbut here’s one theory: Bats have to fall into flightwhich makes hanging upside down the best way to escape quickly.

Nature’s conservationists

Despite all the misconceptions surrounding batsthey are very important to humans and the environment. Insect-eating microbats consume millions of bugs a nightacting as a natural pest control for plants. Thanks to batsfarmers might rely less on toxic pesticideswhich costs them millions of dollars each year. Nectar-drinking bats pollinate plants so they can produce fruit. In factmore than 500 plant speciesincluding mangoesbananasand avocadosdepend on bats for pollination. Finallyfruit-eating bats help disperse seeds so rainforests can growhelping to mitigate the effects of widespread deforestation.