For example, in the winter, some may hibernate in caves, and in the summer, they’ll return to an attic. depending on the time of year because they hibernate during the winter. Seasons often dictate where any bats choose their homes. The most common roosts are existing structures such as caves, tree hollows, and old buildings. Roosts are where bats go to rest, usually in cracks and crevices that keep them hidden and protected. They spend their daylight hours hiding in roosts around the tropics, dense forests, and wetlands. Roostingīats can be found nearly everywhere, except in polar regions, extreme deserts, and a few isolated islands. There are more than 150 species of megabats, which are usually, but not always, larger than microbats. They have larger eyes and a stronger sense of smell than microbats but have smaller ears because they don’t echolocate. In contrast, megabats live in the tropics and eat fruit, nectar, and pollen. This echo tells them an object’s size and how far away it is. They echolocate by making a high-pitched sound that travels until it hits an object and bounces back to them. To navigate dark caves and hunt after dark, microbats rely on echolocation, a system that allows them to locate objects using sound waves. But not to worry-they prefer to drink from cattle and horses, not humans. Vampire bats are the only species of microbats that feed on blood rather than insects. Most bats are microbats, which eat insects like moths, that come out at night. There are two main types of bats: microbats and megabats.
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Their flexible skin membrane and movable joints allow them to change direction quickly and catch mosquitoes in midair. They are the only mammals in the world that can fly, and they are remarkably good at it. The scientific name for bats is Chiroptera, which is Greek for “hand wing.” That’s because bats have four long fingers and a thumb, each connected to the next by a thin layer of skin. Some weigh less than a penny, while others have a wingspan of six feet, but all are impressive and vital members of their ecosystems. There are more than 1,300 species of bats in the world, making them the second most common group of mammals after rodents. But there’s more to these nocturnal creatures than meets the eyes. For centuries, bats have been called sinister and spooky, likely because of their beady eyes and razor-sharp fangs.