Renewers of Rainforests, Lifegivers to Deserts.
Check out these 18 fascinating facts about bats to help you appreciate this unique mammal and get excited about the GRPM’s newest traveling exhibit Bats: Masters of the Night.
Bats are the only mammal capable of true flight.
Flying squirrels do not actually fly, but glide through the air, allowing them to travel large distances (over 150 ft) between trees.
Bats are the second largest group or order of mammals with over 1,200 species; all bats belong to the order Chiroptera, which means ‘hand wing’ in Greek.
There are 47 species of bats in the U.Ss and nine species in Michigan. Some of these species are represented through intricate facial carvings in the GRPM’s Bats exhibit. See below!
Bats have a global distribution and are only absent from Antarctica.
The greatest diversity of bats is found along the equator.
Currently, the oldest known fossil bat is 50 million years old.
The fossil record for mammals goes back over 180 million years and bats are still the only known mammal to achieve true flight.
Insect-eating bats can consume 600 – 1,100 mosquitos-sized insects per hour.
Under normal feeding conditions, bats can eat half of their body weight in insects (moths, flies, beetles, mosquitos, etc.) per night, while pregnant or nursing females can consume their entire body weight of insects in a single night. This makes bats one of the best forms of natural pest control. Bats are estimated to save U.S. farmers billions of dollars a year by reducing crop damage and having to purchase additional pesticides.
Nectar and fruit-eating bats are essential pollinators and seed dispersers for a wide variety of plants including agave (tequila), cloves, balsa wood, figs, cacao (chocolate), bananas, and guavas — just to name a few!
Without bats, many plants important to humans and to maintaining a stable and healthy ecosystem would go extinct.
There are only three bat species that feed on blood and they are found in Central and South America. Their prey of choice are large mammals (cows, pigs, horses, or similar mammals) and birds, NOT humans.
Vampire bats have an anticoagulant in their saliva to help keep the blood flowing while they feed. By studying these bats, scientists have been able to develop drugs for blood-clotting related issues and other cardiovascular diseases in humans.
The world’s smallest bats are the Kitti’s Hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), also called the bumblebee bat, which is found in Thailand.
A full-grown adult is only 1.1-1.3 inches (29-33 mm) long and weighs 1.7-2 grams. This is about the size of a bumblebee and weighs less than a dime, making it one of the smallest mammals in the world.
The world’s largest bats are the Giant Golden-crowned Flying Fox (Acerodon jubatus) which is found in the Philippines. A full-grown adult can have a wingspan of 5.5 feet (167.6 cm) and weigh up to 2.6 pounds (1.2 kg).
Bats can fly at speeds of 60 mph (96.6 kph) and Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) have been clocked at flying 100 (161 kph) mph for short bursts, making them the fastest known mammal on the planet. For reference, A cheetah’s top speed has been recorded at 59.4-64 mph (95-103 kph).
Smaller mammals typically have shorter lifespans, but bats break that rule and have been documented to live 22-41 years in the wild.
Bats are among the slowest-reproducing mammals for their small size, with most species only giving birth to one pup per year. This makes their populations extremely susceptible to human disturbances, like habitat lost, climate change, and disease (white-nose syndrome).
Baby bats are called pups!
Bats are NOT blind; their eyes are attuned to low-light conditions and some species can see color.
Nectar- and fruit-eating bats use their eyesight to find food and some species can see ultraviolet light emitted by some plants. Insect-eating bats use their sight, hearing and echolocation to hunt.
Bats’ over-sized ears and nostrils help with echolocation.
Bats emit a high-frequency sound (20-130 kHz) that bounces off objects 10-20 meters away and use the echoes to determine an object’s distance, size, and shape.
Most but not all species of bats are nocturnal (active at night).
Bats are believed to hunt at night to avoid predation and competition with other animals, like birds.
Some bats live solitary lives, getting together only to mate, but a majority of species gather together in colonies of hundreds to thousands of individuals.
Bracken Cave, outside of San Antonio, Texas, is home to the world’s largest bat colony, with 15-20 million Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis).
Bats do NOT spend any energy hanging upside down by their feet. In the relaxed position, the toes and claws on a bat’s foot are curled closed and muscles have to be used to open them.
Humans work in the opposite way. A relaxed hand sits in the open position and muscles have to be used to close it into a fist.
Bats also roost upside down, because they are difficult to reach by predators, there is no competition from other animals for space, and they need the vertical drop to generate enough speed to fly.
The wings of a bat are formed by a thin membrane that runs along the length of their arm, is stretched between their long, thin fingers, attached to their hind legs, and often a tail.
Because a bat’s entire hand is part of their wing, they can easily change its shape allowing for incredible agility and maneuverability in the air. Tiny muscles in the wing membrane also allows bats to change the membrane’s stiffness and generate lift, even if they are slowing down.
In comparison, a bird’s wing is a relatively stiff airfoil with its entire arm forming a leading ridge that supports multiple feathers.
By: Dr. Cory Redman, the GRPM’s Science Curator
The 1928 Spillman Carousel is closed while we undergo riverfront construction. The carousel will re-open in the Spring of 2025.