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Bats
Order: Chiroptera
Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight. With extremely elongated fingers and a wing membrane stretched between, the bat’s wing anatomically resembles the human hand, Almost 1,000 bat species can be found worldwide. In fact, bats make up a quarter of all mammal species on earth!
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.
Diet
70% of bats consume insects. There are also fruit-eating bats; nectar-eating bats; carnivorous bats that prey on small mammals, birds, lizards and frogs; fish-eating bats; and the blood-sucking vampire bats of South America.
Population
While some bat populations number in the millions, others are dangerously low or in decline.
Range
Bats can be found almost anywhere in the world except the polar regions and extreme deserts.
Behavior
Echolocation
Some bats have evolved a highly
sophisticated sense of
hearing. They emit sounds that bounce off
of objects in their path,
sending echoes back to the bats. From
these echoes, the bats can determine
the size of objects, how far away
they are, how fast they are traveling and even
their texture, all in a
split second
Bats find shelter in caves, crevices, tree cavities and buildings. Some species are solitary while others form colonies of more than a million individuals.
Reproduction
Gestation 40 days - 6 months (bigger bats
have longer
gestation periods)
Litter Size Mostly one pup
For
their size, bats are
the slowest reproducing mammals on Earth. At
birth, a pup weighs up to 25
percent of its mother’s body weight, which
is like a human mother giving birth
to a 31 pound baby! Offspring
typically are cared for in maternity
colonies, where females congregate
to bear and raise the young. Male bats
do not help to raise the
pups.
Overwintering
To survive the winter some species of bat
migrate, others
hibernate, and yet others go into torpor (regulated
hypothermia that can last
from a few hours to a few months).
Threats
The greatest threat to bats is people. Habitat destruction and fear are a lethal combination for bats. In some areas, people have even been known to set fires in caves, killing thousands of roosting bats.
Legal Status/Protection
CITES * (Some species are under Appendix I and some under Appendix II), Endangered Species Act** (Twelve species listed as endangered, one listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act)
*Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international treaty with 172 member countries. Appendix I species cannot be traded commercially. Appendix II species can be traded commercially only if it does not harm their survival.
** The Endangered Species Act requires the US federal government to identify species threatened with extinction, identify habitat they need to survive, and help protect both. In doing so, the Act works to ensure the basic health of our natural ecosystems and protect the legacy of conservation we leave to our children and grandchildren.
How You Can Help
- Help bats and other wildlife by adopting an animal at our Wildlife Adoption Center.
- Take Action for Wildlife at our Wildlife Action Center.
For additional information
Bat Conservation International
