Bats

Bats

1. What are bats?

   • Bats are mammals
     • They're the only true flying mammal
     • Like most mammals, bats have fur, give birth to live young and nurse their young with milk
   • Chiroptera- scientific name
   • Their forelimbs (arms) are webbed- forming wings
     • The wing consists of a thumb and 4 fingers with 2 thin layers of webbed skin across them
     • The wing connects to the legs
     • Some bats also use their wings for grabbing and crawling/climbing
   • 1/4 mammals are bats
   • They're nocturnal
   • Early fossils of bat ancestors show a similar bone structure- they haven't changed much

2. Species and Location

   • Vampire Bat
     • White-winged
     • Hairy-legged
     • Common
       • These are the only 3 species left- any others are extinct
     • Only mammal to feed primarily on blood
     • Their saliva contains an anaesthetic and an anticoagulent
     • They feed on cattle-not humans unless absolutely necessary
     • Like a cat with milk, they lap the blood up
     • Their teeth are shaped so that they can trim the hair/fur of their prey
     • They usually drink up to an ounce of blood a night

3. Hibernation

4. Hunting