Life under the cover of night, the habit of hiding in secret corners during the day and sleeping, hanging upside down, as well as other strange behavior of these animals have caused many myths and superstitions to arise around their persons.
In the past, they were considered vampires, and the inhabitants of past centuries were sure that, as befits creatures of this kind, they feed on the blood of people and other living organisms. And such speculations were not invented without reason.
Undoubtedly, these are very unusual creatures of nature, and their features, without exaggeration, are unique. These creatures were called bats for their small size and the sounds they make, similar to a squeak.
However, what nicknames they were only awarded. For example, in Russia they were called long-eared bat, bat, bat and many other things.
Bats move by echolocation
Bat- not related to rodents animal and attributed by zoologists to the order of bats. The uniqueness of these representatives of the terrestrial fauna, which also include bats, is that they are the only mammals that can move through the air, since they have wings.
Amateurs believe that only birds can have such a useful decoration. But this is a big mistake, because it turns out that animals can also soar in the sky. And the bat is a vivid confirmation of this.
But it should be noted that the wings of mammals are not at all similar to similar parts of the body of birds. In a bat, these are just wide membranes that connect the animal's limbs, being stretched between them, that is, as if between the arms and their incredibly long toes in front, as well as the legs and tail in the back.
Such wings, which make up a significant part of the size of the entire animal, can have an almost meter span. But this is only in large specimens, because it is possible to cite as an example representatives of this tribe the size of an insect.
It is also curious that the wings of such animals are used not only for their intended purpose. They also play the role of a kind of cloak in which these creatures are wrapped, keeping their warmth in bad weather.
The head of flying animals has a small rounded shape. Their body is covered with soft, dark gray or brownish, in some cases of other shades, wool. It can be different: thick and shaggy or short, even and sparse.
These animals practically exist in flight, therefore their limbs are bizarrely modified and underdeveloped, but end in strong claws. The fur-covered tail helps bats to make complex maneuvers in flight.
The sight of such creatures is weak, and they do not feel a special need for it, because the animals spend most of their lives in the dark. On the other hand, the ears are of considerable size, and these organs perfectly pick up the most varied, even completely indistinguishable noises.
Moreover, it is hearing that helps bats to navigate in space. The squeaks they emit as sound waves are reflected from the surrounding objects and help bats create a picture of existing reality in their brains.
For a nest, bats choose dark, quiet places where they can hide from the sun.
This way of perceiving objects is called echolocation.
Species of bats
What class does the bat belong to?, we have already figured out. Despite their strange appearance and unique features, such creatures are still a mammal. Their suborder bears the same name as the animals themselves, that is: bats.
A detailed study of their species is complicated by the hidden lifestyle that these creatures are used to leading. But at present, there are about seven hundred varieties of such flying animals.
Are they really vampires? If we divide bats according to the type of food, then there are such species on Earth, but there are only three of them. However, they are extremely interesting, and therefore worthy of a special description.
- The common vampire is a very famous species that has become the hero of many stories, moreover, numerous. Its representatives are also called big bloodsuckers and live on the American continent in countries such as Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico.
These creatures live up to their name, giving the impression of being quite ominous. Often they unite in huge colonies in terms of the number of individuals and settle in secluded caves. There they hide in the daytime in the company of brothers, falling asleep in a position upside down. And they go out to hunt exclusively at night, attack cattle, sometimes even a person.
Also, small groups of these creatures can take a fancy to abandoned mines, hollows of large trees and even attics of dilapidated buildings. But for all their sinister manners, the size of these animals is very small, and they weigh only no more than 50 g.
- The white-winged vampire, like the previous species, is found on the American continent, in its central and southern regions. But these creatures are slightly smaller than ordinary vampires and attack only birds.
They are distinguished by a brownish-red shade of wool, their abdomen is slightly lighter.
- The fur-legged vampire is a resident of the same region. These representatives of the fauna are interesting in that they are not afraid of people at all, they can let them close to them and allow themselves to be taken in their arms.
But they have a habit of approaching their victims completely unnoticed. And both animals and birds can become victims. The wool of such animals is brown-gray.
Their features also include the absence of too acute hearing inherent in other relatives. These animals have more developed eyesight.
A fur-legged vampire can fly close to people without fear
Unlike fellow vampires, other species of bats are completely harmless creatures. They do not feed on blood, but exclusively on plants or insects.
Although there are those who are often confused with blood-sucking fellow tribesmen, and therefore treat them with caution. But the appearance of herbivorous and insectivorous specimens also has interesting features, as well as their behavior is distinguished by vivid individual characteristics. Therefore, some of them are also worthy of a detailed description.
- The false vampire is the largest of this type of mammal. It should be noted that real vampires are much smaller in size. The wingspan of such a creature is on average about 70 cm.
These individuals feed exclusively on amphibians, lizards, various insects and plant fruits. In appearance, this species differs from its relatives in a more pointed shape of the ears.
The body of such animals is covered with brown or gray fur. The feet have soft pads and hook-like curved claws.
False vampire large bat
- The giant nocturnal is common in Europe. These bats also live in the Russian expanses, where they are considered the largest among their tribe. In some cases, their wingspan reaches half a meter, their mass is on average 75 g.
These representatives of the fauna are very remarkable not only for their impressive size, but also for their bright color, it can be brown or red. Their tummy, as usual in most bats, is noticeably lighter.
For life, animals choose tree hollows, feed on insects. In cold weather, they fly to warm regions.
- The pig-nosed bat is so small that it is easy to confuse it with a bumblebee. And such creatures weigh only 2 g. They are inhabitants of some islands of Asia and Thailand, being considered endemic to these regions.
They hunt for small insects, gathering in flocks. The color is dark brown, in some cases with a grayish tint. Their nose looks like a pig's stigma, for which these creatures have earned their name.
- Great harelip. This species of bats is interesting for its special diet and taste preferences. And they feed on small fish, frogs and crayfish, settling near water bodies.
Moreover, unlike relatives, they can hunt in the daytime. The appearance of the animals is also remarkable, resembling the structure of the muzzle and ears. Their coat is red, very bright.
The weight is rather big - about 80 g. They live in the northern regions of Argentina and southern Mexico, as well as on some islands with similar climate.
Big harelip bat
- The brown long-eared bat is found in Eurasia and northern regions of Africa. From cold places it flies away in winter to warmer regions. It has a not very bright color, usually brown-gray, and weighs only 12 g, but with very large ears.
It should be noted that they sometimes exceed the size of the body in length. And it is these organs that provide the animal with the ability to perfectly hear all sounds. And this allows the animal to navigate unmistakably in pitch darkness during night hunting.
The presence of large ears gave the name to the bat - brown long-eared bat
Lifestyle and habitat
In the culture and myths of many peoples, such animals are usually presented as ominous negative characters. The ancients associated them not only with vampires, but also with other wickedness: werewolves, sorcerers, witches.
These creatures personified darkness and death, but that's why spirit animal bat serves as a completely opposite symbol - rebirth: the rejection of everything that has become obsolete, the death of old habits and concepts, and hence the entry into a new life.
If you list the areas of the planet where such representatives of the fauna settled, you should mention almost all of them, skipping only the edges of eternal snow and ice, as well as some islands surrounded by the ocean, since these flyers simply could not get there.
Zoologists believe that a bat can take root almost anywhere, in any climate and in a wide variety of conditions. The only thing she really needs is a quiet shelter, where she would have the opportunity to hide from the hated sunlight during the day.
Such creatures also do not tolerate hustle and bustle, but even in large cities they can choose some little-visited attic, even if in a residential building. Therefore, they can rightfully be presented, like pets. Bat has no fear of a person.
But some of the people are afraid of such guests, prejudices simply affect. However, this does not prevent exotic lovers from keeping these interesting creatures as pets.
In the wilderness, for example, in some kind of spacious mysterious cave, colonies of these animals can number tens of thousands of members, and even millions of individuals. In such a shelter, they rest during the day, attaching themselves with tenacious claws to the ledges, hanging, like ripe fruits, upside down.
But despite numerous accumulations and associations in communities, bats cannot be called social animals. Their social urges are not manifested in any way. They communicate little with their relatives. They just sleep together during the day, that's all. Yes, and they hunt alone at night.
If bats live in regions that are unfavorable in terms of climate, in winter they often go in search of more pleasant and warm places. And such trips sometimes take thousands of kilometers. But sometimes these creatures just prefer to go into normal hibernation.
Bats Can Collect Millions of Columns
Nutrition
The structure of the teeth of each of the representatives of this suborder is different and directly depends on the method of nutrition of a particular species. Blood-sucking types of teeth have few, only 20 pieces, but they are famous for their long fangs. Other bats have 38 of them.
However, their teeth are dumber and serve rather to grind rough food that gets into the mouth. Some blood-sucking species are able to cause significant harm to their victims, because enzymes that enter the blood of victims along with the saliva of attacking animals when bitten can provoke significant blood loss.
And if the attack is made by a whole group, for example, ordinary vampires, but the lethal outcome is more than likely.
As already mentioned, it is the night for such creatures that is the time of hunting, and their active life begins with the last ray of the outgoing sun. These flying mammals do not see their victims, but hear, catching their slightest movement.
Insectivorous species, in addition to winged little things and crawling insects, are able to eat rainfishes, small fish, and frogs. There are also enough species that eat exclusively fruits and drink the nectar of flowers.
Reproduction and life expectancy
How exactly love courtship and the subsequent mating of these creatures take place is difficult for scientists to find out in detail, they prefer to lead a too hidden lifestyle.
Some bats can feed on the nectar of flowers.
But in certain periods, very interesting sounds can be heard near the habitats of bats. This is the courtship of gentlemen for their ladies and their love calls.
Bats inhabiting regions with favorable conditions and warm climates are ready for mating rituals at any time and are capable of producing offspring twice a year. In regions with harsh weather conditions, mating of these winged mammals occurs just before hibernation.
And this is another feature of these animals. Bat, or rather a female of such a suborder, is not able to become pregnant immediately, but some time after contact with a partner.
Indeed, according to the idea of nature, her eggs will be fertilized only after the spring awakening. And until the specified moment, the sperm of the male, as it were, remains in her body in reserve.
The duration of gestation is also impossible to name with accuracy, because the timing is too different. And they depend not only on the species, but also on environmental conditions, in particular - temperature.
But when the time comes, two or three cubs are born. They first live in the tail pouch. And a week later, they already get out of there, but continue to live, feeding on mother's milk.
Thus, babies are gradually gaining strength, and after a month they are already able to feed on their own.
To the question: what is the life span of these creatures is unequivocally difficult to answer, because it depends on the species to which these bats belong. On average, it is 5 years, but it can be 20 or more years.
It is interesting that when kept at home, such animals do not live longer, as is observed in most living things, but on the contrary - less. This is due to the inability to behave with the desired activity and in accordance with natural cycles. And this is extremely detrimental to their organisms.
During World War II, the Americans developed a project to bomb Japan with bats. At a temperature of 4 ° C, when the animal hibernates, it was planned to attach an incendiary time bomb to its body. Already from an airplane, thousands of bats had to descend from airplanes on self-expanding parachutes, and, after spilling, fly into hard-to-reach places of various buildings, setting them on fire. Although the tests confirmed the effectiveness of this method of "bombing", in the end the project was scrapped, including due to the appearance of a nuclear bomb.
Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Bats fly through the air so peculiarly that they cannot be confused practically with other flying animals. Their wings are thin and large, like a mini parachute. Bats seem to be constantly repelled in the air, this movement is called "propulsion".
Vampire bats do not suck blood. They drink it greedily. But don't worry, there are only three species of bats in the world that drink blood. They are found, as a rule, in Central or South America, and drink blood mainly from animals, such as cows.
Bats are not obese. Metabolism in these creatures is unusually fast - they can digest bananas, mangoes, and berries in about 20 minutes.
Over the past 50 years, fewer than 10 people have contracted rabies from North American bats. In many films, it is often shown that bats are carriers of diseases and toxic substances. But this is not true. Bats try to avoid people, not attack them. If you are bitten by a bat, you need to see a doctor, but you should not immediately prepare for the funeral, most likely nothing serious will happen to you.
Bats navigate at night using ecolocation. Bats do not have good eyesight, especially at night, so during their flight they rely more on their hearing than sight. Bats send out sound signals and listen for changes in the echo, thanks to which they orient themselves in the air. Bats are nocturnal animals, probably because at night they find it easier to get food and hide from their opponents. Some bats can navigate at night, but still the vast majority go hunting only under the veil of night.
Bats make up one fourth of the mammalian class. And this is not a fiction. A quarter of all mammals are bats. There are more than 1,100 species of these animals in the world.
More than 50 percent of the species of bats in the United States are on the verge of extinction. People start to care about something only when it disappears. Human activity has forced many mice to leave their habitats, some of them never found another shelter, others simply did not survive in the new environment.
Cold night and are you cold? Then find bats and learn how to curl up from them. Bats keep themselves warm even in harsh weather with their wings. They wrap their wings around the body and create complete insulation, thus creating a warm mini tent.
Perhaps bats will save millions of people. Scientists have found that the anticoagulant in the saliva of vampire bats could soon be used to treat people with heart disease. Scientists around the world are trying to "copy" enzymes found in the saliva of a vampire bat in order to treat many heart diseases and prevent heart attacks.
Bats only produce one offspring per year.
A common bat tends to live much longer than a dog. The average life span of a bat is constantly changing; the long-livers are predominantly a species of brown bats, which sometimes live for more than 30 years.
Bats are very clean. In general, bats spend a lot more time looking at their appearance than most teenagers spend in front of a mirror. They scrub themselves and their partners very meticulously, licking and scratching themselves for hours.
Animals periodically stop making sounds for a split second in order to hear the signal of the leader and choose the direction of flight.
Some species of bats feed on nectar.
The scientific name for bats is bats, from the Greek cheir (hand) + pteron (wing).
The word "bat" appeared in 1570.
In 600 BC. NS. Greek fabulist Aesop told a fable about a bat that borrowed money to start a business. Her plan failed, and the bat was forced to hide during the day in order not to catch the eye of those from whom she borrowed money. According to Aesop, this is why bats are only active at night.
Bats are divided into two main groups: large bats, which feed mainly on fruits, and small bats, which feed on insects, frogs, blood, fish, lizards, and birds.
Bats that feed on frogs can tell the harmless from the venomous by hearing the call of the male frog.
Scientists believe that bats first appeared 65-100 million years ago, at the same time as dinosaurs. Large bats are more closely related to primates (including humans) than to their smaller counterparts.
In China and Japan, bats are symbols of happiness. In Chinese, the words "bat" and "luck" are pronounced the same - "fu".
Bat wings form finger bones covered with thin skin. The wing membranes make up about 95% of the body surface. They help regulate body temperature, blood pressure, water balance, and gas exchange.
Bats are the only mammals that can fly. The difference between bats and "flying squirrels" is that bats control their flight, whereas "flying squirrels" can only glide from tree to tree.
Unlike birds, which flap their entire front limb, bats wave their spread fingers.
Scientists are using an anticoagulant in the saliva of vampire bats to treat stroke victims and patients with various heart conditions.
Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind. Many bats can see well, and some species are even sensitive to ultraviolet radiation.
But if their vision does not impress you, then you will definitely be amazed by their hearing - they can hear frequencies from 20 to 120,000 Hz. By comparison, humans can only hear between 20 and 20,000 Hz; and dogs - from 40 to 60,000 Hz.
Bats have the slowest reproduction process compared to other mammals of their size, and they also have a longer gestation period than other animals.
About 70% of bats eat insects. On average, a bat can eat over 600 bugs in an hour, which is like an average person eating 20 pizzas in an evening.
The Dracula myth originated in Eastern Europe; however, real vampire bats are only found in Central and South America.
Bats live on all continents except Antarctica. They are found everywhere from the Arctic Circle to Argentina and the southern tip of South Africa.
Vampire bats are the only mammals that only feed on blood.
Contrary to popular belief, vampire mice don't actually suck blood. They "lick" it with their tongues, drinking two teaspoons of blood per night. Blood moves through the mouth through two channels under the tongue. For life, vampire mice need only red blood cells, therefore, two minutes after the start of the meal, plasma leaves the body of the mouse in the form of urine.
Vampire bats must drink as much blood every day as they weigh themselves.
The world's largest bat is the giant flying golden-crowned fox, a rare fruit-eating bat. Its wingspan is more than one and a half meters.
The Bracken Bath Cave in Texas is home to the largest colony of bats in the world. More than 20 million individuals live there, which is twice the population of New York.
According to a poll by Animal Planet, vampire bats are the third most feared animal. Only wolves and gorillas are ahead of them, and immediately behind them are piranhas.
The short-eared bat has a pulse rate of only 18 beats per minute during hibernation, compared to 880 when the mouse is active.
Most of us assume that animals, especially mammals, live for 10-15 years. However, some species can live in the wild for up to 30 years.
A bat with a rodent has only an external resemblance. The same small, nimble, with a similar muzzle. Due to the structural features of the forelimbs, the animal is classified as a bats.
It is interesting. The bat is the only mammal that can fly like a bird. The same flying squirrel only plans. The heroine of the narration completely controls the flight, continuing it for the required time and turning it in the right direction.
Bat wings are modified, elongated fingers connected by a membrane. Spreading them, the animal flies. There are many types of skilful nocturnal predators in the world. Moreover, not only mice, but also flying dogs, foxes, bats, long-eared bat, leaf-bearers, horseshoe bats and even vampires. By the way, from the name you can understand what bats eat. For example, leaf beetles are vegetarians who prefer nuts. Vampires (there are only three types) - fresh blood of large animals and occasionally humans. The overwhelming majority are true predators.
As is clear from the description, a bat is not a rodent. The way of eating is different, like the way of life, which made it possible to attribute the cute creature to a separate detachment. Let's take a closer look at the flying predator.
Bat life
The majority of bats prefer to feed on insects, but there are others. Leafy vegetarians love nuts, giant noctresses specialize in lizards and frogs, and some will eat fish. Let's deal with those who drink blood. Are there really little black vampires in nature, or are they fairy tales?
It is interesting. In America, there are only three species of bats that eat blood and flesh. But to say that they stick is wrong. Rather, they bite and lick off the protruding liquid without giving up pieces of meat. Since bats are secretive animals that live in dark places and are active at night, people have long associated them with something evil, otherworldly. Hence the emergence of legends about vampires - the dead, who easily turn into animals. In fact, the belief only distantly reflects the reality.
Bats appear in the house by chance, preferring to live remotely from humans. Sometimes they can be found in attics, but only if the room is uninhabited. Preferred locations are abandoned buildings, tree hollows, cave formations, and similar shelters. During the day, animals sleep, catching their paws on a horizontal surface and hanging upside down, and at night they go hunting. The flight of the bat is smooth, almost inaudible and invisible to insects. Why is that?
The reason for this is the ability of the animal to echolocate. Bats are guided in flight by not seeing or even smelling. They are able to pick up waves emanating from an object that stands in the way. To do this, the animal needs to constantly shout so that the echo is reflected from the obstacle. Fortunately, a person does not hear the emitted ultrasounds, otherwise the flight of a bat would turn into unbearable torture for our ears. This squeak is so piercing and painful.
Here are some more surprising facts about the heroes of today's story:
Now you know what bats eat, how they live, navigate in flight using echolocation, and are considered quite useful human helpers. That is why you should not be afraid of interesting predators at all, and even more so to drive away from the site.
And yet, what to do if the bat flew into the apartment? After all, frightened, she can accidentally bite a person, and this is dangerous. Let's find out how to get rid of the lost animal.
We chase away the uninvited guest
If a bat has entered your house, don't panic. Believe me, this happened completely by accident, and the animal is as scared as you are. The simplest thing is to catch. Moreover, you will have to act quickly, because the guest knows how to navigate well in space, even in an unfamiliar place. Experts recommend using some kind of dense fabric. The animal is carefully knocked down and wrapped in a cloth, and then released into the street. Open the window - perhaps the guest will fly out on his own, without your help. Under no circumstances should you catch with your bare hands or twitch - the bats may get scared and bite. If the trouble still happened, you will have to go to the doctor without fail.
Bats do not live in houses, preferring to hide from humans, so you can be happy with such a visit: a rather rare occurrence. If a bat appears in the apartment, you cannot kill it. There is a sign among the people that in this case you will simply shorten your own life. In China, they say that such a visit promises a lot of money.
Looking at a photo of a bat, many notice its resemblance to the rodent of the same name. And the color, and the size, and even the shape of the muzzle, and resourcefulness, agility. Only in fact, animals are different. It doesn't matter whether a small or a big bat is in front of you, the main thing is to always remember that this is an excellent assistant and friend of any gardener and gardener, which means that you do not need to destroy it.
The bats - almost legendary creatures. They are afraid, they do not like them, fables and fairy tales are invented about them. In fact, bats are surprisingly interesting and not at all scary animals.
Bat
These are the only animals that have risen into the air like birds. To do this, they have wings - thin skin of webbed membranes stretched between the body, shoulder, forearm and long fingers. However, competing with daytime feathered bats is still beyond their power, so they had to choose the night.
Bats are perfectly adapted to flight in the darkness. The folds and outgrowths of the huge ears make their hearing sensitive to ultrasonic signals. The nocturnal emits such signals with the lips, approximately the way we whistle, and a special expansion of the larynx enhances them. By reflecting sound from an object, the bat learns not only the distance to it, but also the direction of its movement and speed. Truly, she "sees with her ears"!
It's hard to believe
Bat
It is interesting that during hibernation in bats, the brain is completely turned off and the processes in the body are controlled only by the spinal cord and the oblongata. In this case, after awakening, the conditioned reflexes developed earlier disappear. For example, if a bat was taught to recognize a feeding place well, then after sleeping it completely forgets this place.
Aerialist
The ginger noch is one of the most common bats in Russia. She is really red, especially in the spring and summer; by winter, even, low fur acquires a darker, brownish-brown color. The flying membranes and wide ears are also colored.
The wings of this mouse are long and pointed. It flies quickly and maneuverably, deftly grabbing rather large and dodging prey: beetles and large moths. Sometimes, chasing another victim, the mouse performs almost acrobatic stunts. It falls down 30-40 m like a stone, grabs the beetle and quickly rises back, biting off hard elytra on the fly. In 30-40 minutes, the mouse is easily able to devour up to 30 insects.
Night flight
Bat
Ginger nocturnal settles in old mixed and deciduous forests, in city parks and gardens, arranging colonies in hollows of trees. Usually no more than 30-35 animals live together, usually females. Males stay alone in the first half of summer, and closer to autumn they form small "male" colonies. There are also mixed settlements, but mainly in late autumn or during the winter. The entrance hole of the hollow is usually round or slightly elongated, but it is easiest to identify an inhabited "apartment" not by its shape, but by its smell. It is not very pleasant, and the flies circling around clearly indicate the character of the tenants.
During the day, bats sleep, hanging upside down from the ceiling of their home. Closer to the night, revival, squeak and fuss begins, and at sunset, noctresses fly out to hunt. Some particularly impatient animals may appear in the air several hours before sunset. This is dangerous, because during the day they can easily be caught by a feathered predator, such as a hawk or small falcon. However, birds rarely achieve success: the nocturnal is so fast and maneuverable that few people can catch it.
After leaving, the bats actively feed, chasing prey high above the crowns of trees, on the edges and forest glades. If a strong wind blows, it is damp and cold, the nocturnia descend lower and quickly fly above the ground, and in very bad weather they may not leave the shelter at all. As a rule, in an hour the animals have time to get enough food and return to "fill up" in the hollow. The second time they fly out to hunt in the morning, and also for a short time. However, in inclement weather, mice sometimes have to chase prey almost all night.
A bedroom a thousand kilometers away
Bats are sleeping
As you know, insects do not fly in winter. What should voracious mice do? Ginger noctresses solve this problem in the same way as birds - they fly away. During migrations, these small animals cover great distances: a record length of their path - more than 1500 km! Vectares usually fly at night, at a speed of about 30-40 km per day, sometimes together with birds. They hibernate in the Crimea, the Caucasus, Central Europe and Central Asia, hibernating in caves, hollows, in attics. In the spring, in April-May, noctuaries return back, and the females always arrive first, and later - the males.
Toothy babies
In August-September, bats start rutting. Males at this time occupy special autumn hollows and sit there, singing "love serenades". You won't hear their specific twitter at any other time of the year. Of course, the bat is not a nightingale, but the females also like this song. They fly to the "singer" in the hollow and temporarily settle in it. Vechernitsa are polygamous: often the song of the male attracts several females at once.
Pregnancy continues until next summer. The fact is that spermatozoa are stored in the genital tract of females, without losing their viability, for several months, and only at the end of winter the development of embryos begins. Cubs are born at the most convenient time for feeding - at the beginning of summer. This phenomenon - the latent phase of pregnancy - has been found in many mammalian species, and it is also characteristic of bats.
At first, the cubs cannot do without their mother at all: they are not even able to maintain their own temperature. But they are born already with teeth, on which there are special tips curved inward. With them, the cubs firmly cling to the nipples of the mother, who carries the offspring with her everywhere. Moreover, the female, despite such an appendage, also catches prey. A little later, the cubs remain alone during the hunt, and the mother feeds them, unmistakably identifying her own. Babies grow quickly and already in August are very similar to adults, only dimmer. After the autumn molt, this difference also disappears.
Cool down usefully
Bat in hands
Bats are heterothermic animals. This means that their body temperature is not completely, but still depends on the environment. This was noticed back in the 18th century by the Italian explorer Spallanzani. Especially the body temperature of noctuaries drops during hibernation: it is only 1-2 degrees higher than outside. At the same time, all life processes proceed much more slowly: for example, the heart beats only 15-16 times per minute, and not 400, as during periods of wakefulness. During daytime sleep in summer, the body temperature also decreases, but not so much.
The bats - the only mammals to have mastered the air due to the presence of their wings. In addition, the bat is not a relative of the terrestrial one either by origin or by way of life.
What species is the bat? She belongs to the order of bats, whose name speaks for itself. Why are bats called mice? it was named for its distant external resemblance to a land rodent and the ability to make sounds similar to a mouse squeak.
Appearance
Bat, description: most of the animal's body is retracted to the wings... If you do not take them into account, then you can note a miniature torso with a short neck and an elongated head. The mouth of the animals is large, sharp teeth are visible through it.
Some types of bats fascinate people with a pretty muzzle, others frightened by the unusual shape of the nose, disproportionately large ears and amazing growths on the head.
The prettiest bats of the fruit bat considered a fruit dog: She has large open eyes and an elongated fox-like nose. It is interesting that the names were given to some based on the shape of the animal's nose: pig-nosed, horseshoe-nosed, smooth-nosed.
The white bat has a kind of "horn" on its face, which gives the nose the shape of a petal. Thanks to this device, the forward-facing nostrils of the animal catch odors faster and more efficiently.
No less a bulldog mouse has a specific appearance: on her muzzle in the transverse direction there is a cartilaginous fold that runs above the nose from one auricle to another. The cartilaginous roller brings together the edges of the auricles, increasing their area for better hearing, necessary for orientation in space during flight.
On the face animal you can "read" about lifestyle and even nutrition for the mouse. For example, fruit lovers do not need the powerful locators required by flying specimens crossing their surroundings at night. But their nostrils are wider: they search for food, focusing on smells.
Photo
What a bat looks like: see the photo below:
Structure
The birds adapted to flight thanks to their lightweight honeycomb bones, air sacs in the lungs, and a cover that was heterogeneous in structure and function of feathers. Flying bats do not have all of this. and the skin membranes can hardly be called wings.
How do bats fly? Flight mice similar to the flight of the flying machine of Leonardo da Vinci, who took over from nature the idea of the wing structure of a flying mammal.
A solid skin membrane impenetrable by air "covers" the air masses from above, which allows the animals to push off and fly from them.
Skeleton and wings
The skeleton of a bat has its own characteristics. Limbs bats are modified: they serve as a skeleton for the wing... The humerus in these animals is short, and the bones of the forearm and the last 4 fingers are lengthened in order to increase the area of the flying "mantle".
A fibrous skin fold is stretched from the neck to the fingertips of the animals. Thumb with a tenacious claw is not included in the wing, it necessary for the animal to grab... The posterior (interfemoral) part of the membrane is stretched between the hind legs and the long tail.
See how the wings of a bat look in the photo below:
Flight
The arm with the wing is set in motion by several paired muscles of the upper girdle, which to reduce energy consumption for flights attached not to the sternum, but to the fibrous base wing. The keel of the sternum of animals is inferior in power to that of a bird: only one muscle is attached to it, which is necessary for flight - the pectoralis major.
Spine in flying mammals more mobile than birds... It allows mice to be more maneuverable outside the air.
Movement on the ground
How does a bat move? Evolution has robbed bats of strong bones lower girdle, thighs and lower legs, leaving behind them the right to fly most of their lives.
Some types of mice, such as vampire mice, have stronger thigh bones and able to walk on the ground... They are supported by the thickened skin of the paw pads. Bats cannot move in this way and do it extremely awkwardly.
Dimensions and weight
Tiny body length animals inhabiting Russia, usually does not exceed 5 cm, the wingspan of the smallest of them is 18 cm.The mass of the record-holders is 2-5 g.
Ears, white and pig-nosed mice are small in size. Representative of the latter species considered one of the smallest mammals on the ground.
Large individuals weigh up to a kilogram. The distance between the tips of the toes of the front paws with spread wings can reach one and a half meters, and the body length is 40 cm. The bats, South American false vampires, are considered to be the real giants among bats.
Sense organs
Reaction of bats to light: the retina of bats is devoid of cones- receptors responsible for daytime vision.
Their vision is twilight and is provided with sticks. That's why during the day the animals are forced to sleep, because in daylight they see poorly.
In some representatives, the eyes are covered with bizarre skin folds. This once again confirms the hypothesis that orientate themselves in the mouse space not with the help of a visual analyzer... Close relatives of bats, fruit bats, also belonging to the order bats, have cones. These animals can be found during the day.
Minor role for animals of the visual analyzer was identified in a simple experiment: when the animals were blindfolded, they did not stop navigating in the environment. When the same thing was repeated with the ears, the mice began to bump into walls and objects in the room.
How do mice see in the dark?
How bats navigate In the dark? What sounds do bats make? The amazing ability of bats to fly and forage without the participation of vision was revealed after using sensitive sensors managed to record ultrasonic signals that are emitted by animals during flight.
Ultrasound from bats, which is inaudible to the human ear, is reflected from surrounding objects within a radius of 15 meters, returned to the animal, collected by the auricle and analyzed by the inner ear. Hearing in animals is thin.
Nutrition
Flying mammals have their own eating habits... Based on which product the animal has a favorite, they distinguish:
- insectivores;
- carnivores;
- fruit eaters or vegetarians;
- fish-eating mice;
- vampires.
Read an interesting article on how and how mice hunt in nature.
Dream
Sleep bats prefer upside down... With the claws of their hind legs, they cling to a horizontal bar or twig of a tree, press their wings to the body and fall asleep. Why do bats sleep upside down (upside down)? Sitting they do not sleep: weak the bones of the lower extremities do not withstand many hours of stress on them while sleeping.
Sleeping bats, sensing danger, spread their wings, unclench the claws of their hind legs and fly away without wasting time getting up from a lying or sitting position.
Reproduction
How do bats breed and are born? Before hibernation the animals open the mating season. A few months after mating to light 1-2 mice appear which the mother feeds with milk for 2 weeks.
Cubs bat, are under guardianship mothers 3 weeks, after which they begin an independent life. Ask how long bats live, there is evidence that bats can live up to 30 years.
Exotic next door
For fun facts about bats, see the video below:
