As #batweek comes to a close, I thought I'd highlight a few of the coolest species of the over 1,300 we know of.
1. Hammerhead bat: Male vocal cords are about 3x larger than female, and they have large resonating chambers on their faces. Females appear more like a typical megabat.
2. Honduran White Bat constructs “tents“ out of understory plant leaves by strategically cutting the leaf ribs with its teeth; it roosts in these tents during the day ↩
So about 90% of my points came from the first two weeks (and I got distracted with #batweek), but I'm happy with the results of my first #scarathlon, and my first #bookspin / #bookspinbingo. @FlynnDewey #teamwhoyagonnacall
Thanks to everyone for following along or tolerating my batty posts for #batweek. I was at a dinner party in Colorado, and when I brought up bats, the host casually mentioned killing dozens of them because they would roast in his porch, and he didn't like it. Their unearned reputation as pests, dirty, or just scary can have devastating effects on the ecosystems they support. You don't have to love them, but don't hate them. ♥️🦇🖤
Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?! ? While mega bats like the flying fox are the most "sky puppy"-ish, there are over 1,400 species of bats, which accounts for 20% of all mammal species! They can be found nearly everywhere on earth, aside from the harshest desert or artic. And they are the only mammals capable of true flight (nice try, "gliding" squirrels). #batweek
How do bats spend so much energy gripping with their feet while hibernating? They don't! The tendons of their feet have evolved to lock their toes in a grip, and they actually have to flex to release from their roost. This allowed their leg bones to evolve thin and light to eliminate some weight as they gained flight. Their legs now would not support their weight if they tried standing. #batweek
Like humans, bats only have one or two offspring each year, which increases their susceptibility to major colony damage from disease like white-nose syndrome or habitat loss. Recovery can be very slow. More than 200 bat species around the world are considered threatened. WNS alone has the potential to wipe out 90% of a colony in one winter. #batweek
This little cutie is actually the fearsome vampire bat! You can see its two little fangs. They use the fangs to slice, not puncture, and their saliva has an anti-coagulant to prevent the wound from closing while they feed.
They are only 2-3 inches big with a 7 inch wing span, so the incision is tiny. Found primarily in Latin America, they prefer to feed on sleeping livestock and birds, so human interaction is very rare. #batweek
Bat Week Day 2: Some bats have butt spoons they use to catch insects mid-flight, then they do crunches like a gym bro to pop the bug into their mouth. Bats can't glide (that's one way to tell them from birds while flying), so all this is done while flapping. #batweek
It's Bat Week! 🦇🦇🦇 I love bats, always have. Bat Week is the seven days leading into Halloween, highlighting the importance of their role in ecosystems around the world at a time where they tend to be treated as a symbol of evil and fear. Love the sky puppies! #batweek
4. Bulldog bats have cheek pouches for storing food that look like bulldog jowls when empty. Their primary food is fish, and they use echolocation to “look“ for ripples in the water. 3w