With The Dark Knight Rises premiering this week, we wanted to revisit our assertions and add even more amazing reasons why Bruce Wayne should take a backseat to the bats of the world.
One in Five Mammal Species is a Bat
About one in every five species of mammal is a bat, which is to say, there are nearly 1,250 bat species out of about 5,700 mammal species (these numbers vary from source-to-source and time-to-time both because of the vagaries of classification and the discovery of new species).
The ability of bats to produce so many species is a sign that they can adapt to a wide variety of habitats and means they are among the most biologically successful, if not the most biologically successful, group of mammals.
Bats are Better Fliers than Birds
The lesser long-nosed bat (below) is a great example of why wings have made bats the successes they are today, after more than 52 million years of evolution.
The wings are composed of the elongated fingers of the bat’s forelimb with a thin webbing of furred skin stretching between the fingers to create the flying surface. Because these wings are thinner than those of feathery birds, bats are better fliers than birds, capable of more rapid and precise turns. Nerve receptors in the wings help bats sense changes in air flow and even to use their wings as nets to catch insect prey.
Wings have allowed them to be highly adaptable and to turn up in some unexpected places…
Some Bats Sleep in Groups, Which May Number in the Millions
Bats Have Advanced Foraging Skills, Using Sonar and Sound
Bats tend to be specialized in their foraging habits. Those that hunt flying insects may use a form of sonar or echolocation—while flying, they emit sounds that bounce off nearby objects. The echo helps the bat locate what lies ahead, including such prey as moths and mosquitoes. Some bats eat insects on the ground, but they also use highly developed hearing to locate their prey.
The unusual-looking bat below has an appetite for an altogether different type of food:
Some Bats Eat Fruit
Not all bats eat other animals, including the largest of the bats:
Looking like weird fruit pods themselves, these fruit bats (above), or flying foxes, are roosting in Queensland, Australia. Also found across parts of Asia and Africa, fruit bats can reach a wingspan of nearly 5 feet and weigh 2.5 pounds. They do not used sound to locate food and instead rely on a keen sense of smell and good eyesight. They may fly 40 miles in search of a fruiting tree.
Bats Usually Have Only One Baby at a Time
Bats may range widely in size and food preferences, but there is one thing almost all have in common…
…because bat mothers have to fly in search of food, they usually produce only one offspring at a time, as in the case of this fruit bat mother and young (above) that roosted with other wild bats in a hut in South Africa.
Mothers feed newborns with milk and bring food to older young, which cannot fend for themselves until they are able to fly.
Producing only one young at a time means that bats breed relatively slowly. Individuals of some species can live 20 years, however, giving them time to produce sufficient offspring for species survival. But such a slow birth rate can make bats vulnerable to die offs, such as one occurring now in the United States.
More Than a Million Bats Have Died From White-Nose Syndrome in North America
A fungus, Geomyces destructans, that infects European bats but does them little harm has reached North America, where more than 5.5 million bats in the United States and Canada have died from the disease. Called white-nose syndrome, the disease leaves an infected bat’s nose, ears and wings powdery white with fungal growth.
The little brown bat (an infected specimen, above) has shown some adaptability that may help it survive: a socially roosting species that is one of the most common bats in the Northeast, it seems to be shifting into solitary roosting in parts of its range, according to new research from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
“Our analysis suggests that the little brown bats are probably not going to go extinct, because they are changing their social behavior in a way that will result in them persisting at smaller populations,” says A. Marm Kilpatrick, one of the researchers.
The social-roosting Indiana bat (right) may not be so lucky—the Santa Cruz researchers believe it will decline toward extinction.
Bats have survived for at least 52 million years, outliving woolly mammoths and saber-tooth cats, but now face threats such as human encroachment on the caves they use for sleeping and nesting, loss of watering sites in arid parts of the nation, as well as white-nose syndrome.
State and federal agencies are attempting to limit human activity in bat caves, which also may help reduce the spread of diseases from cave to cave.
Batman, as the new film undoubtedly will show, always triumphs over his enemies. For real bats—such as the long-eared bat (below), which is becoming locally extinct in some areas because of white-nose syndrome—the outcome is a lot more iffy.
Bonus Fact: What is the World’s Smallest Bat?
The world’s smallest bat is the bumblebee bat (also called Kitti’s hog-nosed bat), with a body less than an inch and a half long and weighing around 0.07 ounces. It feeds on insects.
Extra Credit Reading
- Most bats are nocturnal. What should you do if you see one in the daytime?
- Kids: Learn more about fruit bats, the world’s biggest bat species.
- A Kid Quiz on bats
- Creating Backyard Habitat: building a bat house.
- Sign up to make your backyard a Certified Wildlife Habitat
Sounds like the average bat if you ask me. We have thousands of little heroes saving us every night–it’s just a matter of knowing why bats are just as awesome (even more so) then Batman.
1. They take out thousands of pests
While Batman is tough on inner-city pests, a bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour. And bats don’t just stop at mosquitoes; they eat a large number of other insects like beetles and moths that are agricultural pests.
Species like the big brown bat are known for being very helpful when it comes to bug control. The California leaf-nosed bat is so agile, it can swoop down and grab beetles, crickets, and grasshoppers right off the ground.
So if you have a pest problem, put a little bat house on the side of your home and fight off the bugs the natural way!
2. They bring us awesome food like mangoes and tequila
Do you like tequila? How about mangoes? Both of these would suffer greatly if we didn’t have bats. Fruit bats make up about 30 percent of the bat population and play a huge role in pollinating essential crops like agave, from which tequila is made. Seeds dropped by bats can also account for up to 95 percent of forest regrowth on cleared land. In fact, it’s known that more than 300 plant species in the tropics alone rely on the pollinating and seed dispersal of bats.
3. They have an expansive range
While Batman’s range is fairly restricted to the city limits of Gotham, bats have a much more expansive range. Depending on the species, they can cover great distances in a single night, hunting for insects, drinking at water holes and pollinating plants. We certainly are being watched over!
4. They are the ONLY flying mammals
That’s right, while Bruce Wayne can glide, bats can really fly! While you may hear of “flying” animals like squirrels, bats are the only mammals that can truly fly. The others simply glide.
5. Echolocation…that says it all
In The Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader uses something resembling echolocation, but it’s nothing compared to the real thing. A number of bat species have this “feature” built in! Bats that use echolocation often have big ears and really funky looking faces. Those faces help capture sound waves bouncing off of prey and other objects and funnel those waves to the ears. Bats that don’t use echolocation, like fruit bats, actually have big eyes to see in the dark and long dog-like faces (some are called “flying foxes” because of this). Here’s a great shot of one.
6. Even their poo is helpful
To my knowledge, the Dark Knight has never developed a bowel-related superpower (thank goodness). Bat guano, however, not only makes a great fertilizer, it is the sole habitat for some species, like the guano beetle! That’s the making of a real hero—when even poo has helpful qualities.
7. They help the whole ecosystem, not just one city
Bats are key species to helping their habitats flourish. Not only do they eat insects and pollinate crops, but they also serve as prey for predators like hawks and owls.
I don’t know about you…but when I shine the bat symbol, I have a completely different idea of the response I want. I want more bats! Unfortunately, a number of bat species (both in and out of North America) are at risk.
Bats in North America have undergone a dramatic decline due to an epidemic of white-nose syndrome. In some places such as Pennsylvania, little brown bats—once the continent’s most common bat—have declined by as much as 99 percent.
There is some hope for bats in areas where average winter outdoor temperatures are warmer, and scientists are working on treatments for affected bats. But it’s likely we will never see the recovery in our lifetime of some species because their numbers have fallen so low and bats produce only one pup a year.
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