Fact Sheet
Bats
Photo: Tim Krynak / USFWS
Bat, © Kevin Davis

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Fast Facts

Size: Bats are divided into two suborders: Megachiroptera, meaning large bat, and Microchiroptera, meaning small bat. The largest bats have a 6 foot wingspan. The bodies of the smallest bats are no more than an inch long.
Lifespan: Most bats live longer than most mammals of their size. The longest known lifespan of a bat in the wild is 30 years for a little brown bat. 

Sound Clip
Range Map
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Protection Status
Endangered Species Act: Endangered
CITES: Appendix I

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Bats, © J Scott Altenbach
In the Magazine
Worth Defending »
The Virginia big-eared bat will devour half its weight in bugs every night during warm weather months. Come winter hibernation, though, the bat could be in for a chilling reality.
In the Magazine
Wild Matters »
In the race to save bats affected by the deadly white-nose syndrome, scientists from Michigan Technological University are using chemical “fingerprinting” to identify where bats hung out the previous summer.
© Michael Durham / Minden Pictures
In the Magazine
Flying in the Dark »
Fresh snow covered the ground on a cold day last March as Marvin Moriarty trudged up the short, steep hill to the entrance of the Greeley Mine in Stockbridge, Vermont, to see first-hand the effects of white-nose syndrome in bats.

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