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Table of Contents
Bats are often misunderstood or sometimes even feared by humans. Yet this amazing creature plays a huge part in keeping the insect population down and has a natural radar built in to guide it at night. Keep reading to discover some interesting facts about bats or alternatively download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Facts About Bats
- Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.
- With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of flight.
- The smallest bat, is Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, which is 29–34 millimeters (1+1⁄8–1+3⁄8 inches) in length, 150 mm (6 in) across the wings, and weighs 2–2.6 g (1⁄16–3⁄32 oz).
- The largest bats are the flying foxes, with the giant golden-crowned flying fox reaching a weight of 1.6 kg (3+1⁄2 lb) and having a wingspan of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in).
- Bats are the second largest order of mammals after rodents.
- Bats comprise about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with over 1,400 species.
- These were traditionally divided into two suborders: the largely fruit-eating megabats, and the echolocating microbats.
- Many bats are insectivores, and most of the rest are frugivores (fruit-eaters) or nectarivores (nectar-eaters).
- A few species feed on animals other than insects; for example, the vampire bats feed on blood.
- Most bats are nocturnal, and many roost in caves or other refuges.
- Bats are found throughout the world, with the exception of extremely cold regions.
- They are important in their ecosystems for pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds; many tropical plants depend entirely on bats for these services.
Species of Bat
- There are over 1,400 species traditionally classified as two suborders:
- Megachiroptera (megabats).
- Microchiroptera (microbats/echolocating bats).
- Not all megabats are larger than microbats.
- Several characteristics distinguish the two groups.
- Microbats use echolocation for navigation and finding prey. Most microbats eat insects and are nocturnal.
- Megabats have well-developed eyesight as well as a claw on the second finger of the forelimb. Megabats eat fruit, nectar, or pollen and are typically active during the day or at twilight.
- Some bats feed on frogs, fish, small mammals, or blood.
Habitat
- Flight has enabled bats to become one of the most widely distributed groups of mammals.
- Apart from the Arctic, the Antarctic and a few isolated oceanic islands, bats exist in almost every habitat on Earth.
- Tropical areas tend to have more species than temperate ones.
- Different species select different habitats during different seasons, ranging from seasides to mountains and deserts, but they all require suitable roosts.
- Bat roosts can be found in hollows, crevices, foliage, and even human-made structures.
- Megabats generally roost in trees.
- When not flying, bats hang upside down from their feet, a posture known as roosting.
- When on the ground, most bats can only crawl awkwardly.
Anatomy
- The head and teeth shape of bats varies by species.
- In general, megabats have longer snouts, larger eye sockets, and smaller ears, giving them a more dog-like appearance, which is the source of their nickname of “flying foxes”.
- Among microbats, longer snouts are associated with nectar-feeding.
- Vampire bats have reduced snouts to accommodate large incisors and canines.
- Small insect-eating bats can have as many as 38 teeth, while vampire bats have only 20.
- Bats that feed on hard-shelled insects have fewer but larger teeth with longer canines and more robust lower jaws than species that prey on softer-bodied insects.
- In nectar-feeding bats, the canines are long while the cheek teeth are reduced.
- In fruit-eating bats, the cusps of the cheek teeth are adapted for crushing.
- The upper incisors of vampire bats lack enamel, which keeps them razor-sharp.
Bat Senses
Smell
- Bats seem to use their sense of smell for many critical tasks.
- Mother bats seem to use smell to help identify their offspring in crowded nursery roosts.
- It is also used to recognize one another, and to attract mates.
Vision
- The eyes of most microbat species are small and poorly developed.
- Most microbats have mesopic vision, meaning that they can detect light only at low levels.
- Microbats use their vision for orientation and while traveling between their roosting grounds and feeding grounds, as echolocation is effective only over short distances.
- Some species can detect ultraviolet light.
- Megabat species often have eyesight as good as, if not better than, human vision. Their eyesight is adapted to both night and daylight vision, including some color vision.
Echolocation
- Microbats and a few megabats emit ultrasonic sounds to produce echoes.
- The sound intensity of these echos is dependent on subglottic pressure.
- The muscle for this is located inside the larynx.
- By comparing the outgoing pulse with the returning echoes, bats can gather information on their surroundings.
- This allows them to detect prey in darkness.
- Some bat calls can reach 140 decibels.
- Microbats use their larynx to emit echolocation signals through the mouth or the nose.
- Microbat calls range in frequency from 14,000 to well over 100,000 Hz, extending well beyond the range of human hearing.
- Various groups of bats have evolved fleshy extensions around and above the nostrils, known as nose leaves, which play a role in sound transmission.
- The surface of bat ears helps to sharply focus echolocation signals and passively listen for any other sound produced by the prey.
Wings and Flight
- Bats have four long fingers and a thumb, each connected to the next by a thin layer of skin.
- The wing membrane is called the patagium.
- The membranes are delicate, tearing easily, but can regrow, and small tears heal quickly.
- The wings of bats are much thinner than the wings of birds and consist of more bones.
- By folding the wings in toward their bodies on the upstroke, they save 35 percent energy during flight.
- The surface of the wings is equipped with touch-sensitive receptors on small bumps called Merkel cells, also found on human fingertips.
- These sensitive areas are different in bats, as each bump has a tiny hair in the center, making it even more sensitive and allowing the bat to detect and adapt to changing airflow.
- The primary use is to judge the most efficient speed at which to fly.
- Bats are the only mammals capable of sustained flight, as opposed to gliding, as in the flying squirrel.
- The fastest bat, the Mexican free-tailed bat, can achieve a ground speed of 160 km/h (100 mph).
Food and Feeding
- Different bat species have different diets, including insects, nectar, pollen, fruit, and even vertebrates.
- Due to their small size, high metabolism, and rapid burning of energy through flight, bats must consume large amounts of food for their size.
- Insectivorous bats may eat over 120 percent of their body weight, while frugivorous bats may eat over twice their weight.
- Nectar- and pollen-eating bats can hover, in a similar way to hummingbirds.
- Bats get most of the water they need to survive from the food they eat. Although, many species also drink from sources of water like ponds, streams, and lakes. They do this by flying over the surface and dipping their tongues into the water.
- The diet of an insectivorous bat includes many species, from mosquitos, moths, and grasshoppers to wasps and bees.
Predators and Disease
- Bats are hunted by a number of predators such as owls, falcons, and hawks, as well as cats.
- Bats are hosts to a number of internal and external parasites.
- Bats carry fleas and mites, as well as specific parasites such as bat bugs and bat flies.
Bats and Humans
- Bats consume insect pests, reducing the need for pesticides and other insect management measures.
- They are used as food in West Africa, across Asia, and the Pacific Rim.
- Bats do carry diseases and can sometimes be the cause of outbreaks such as Ebola, SARS, MERS, Nipah, and possibly even Covid-19. Bats are also carriers of rabies.
- Some bats are also predators of mosquitoes, which helps reduce the prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria.
- Bat excrement has been mined as guano from caves and used as fertilizer because it is rich in nitrogen.
- Bats mean different things to different cultures. For example, in Japan bats symbolize chaos and unrest. For the Chinese, they symbolize long life. To Native Americans, they can represent the connection between life, death, and fertility. In Christianity, bats represent the unclean because they’re seen as abominations of birds. While for the ancient Celts, they believed that bats represented major life changes and are associated with witches, evil, and negative omens.
- However, in the West, bats are popularly associated with darkness, malevolence, witchcraft, vampires, and death.
Bat Worksheets
This bundle contains 10 ready-to-use Bat Worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about Bats which are often misunderstood or sometimes even feared by humans. Yet this amazing creature plays a huge part in keeping the insect population down and has a natural radar built in to guide it at night.
Download includes the following worksheets
- Bat Facts
- Quick Quiz
- Defeating the Myth
- Bat Anatomy
- Life of a Bat
- Echolocation
Bats Around the World - Megabat
- Microbat
- Mystacina Miocenalis
- Reflection
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a baby bat called?
A baby bat is called a pup.
Do bats lay eggs?
No. Bats are mammals and so they give birth to live young. Like other mammals, the pups are nursed with milk produced by the mother.
Do bats sleep upsidedown?
Yes. They hang upside down in a cave or hollow tree where they are safe from predators.
What is a baby bat called?
A baby bat is called a pup.
Do bats really drink blood?
Some species of bats do drink blood. The vampire bat will usually find cattle, horses, or donkeys sleeping at night. But sometimes they will also bite people to drink blood.
Do bats eat a lot?
Bats have high metabolisms and some can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in an hour.
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Link will appear as Bat Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 25, 2017
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.