Biology:Bat

From HandWiki
(Redirected from Biology:Chiroptera)
Short description: Order of flying mammals

Bat
Temporal range: EocenePresent

Error: No valid link was found at the end of line 8.

Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Clade: Scrotifera
Clade: Apo-Chiroptera
Order: Chiroptera
Blumenbach, 1779
Suborders

(traditional):

(present):

Bat range.png
Worldwide distribution of bat species

Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (/kˈrɒptərə/).[lower-alpha 1] With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium. The smallest bat, and arguably the smallest extant mammal, is Kitti's hog-nosed bat, which is 29–34 millimetres (1 181 38 inches) in length, 150 mm (6 in) across the wings and 2–2.6 g (116332 oz) in mass. The largest bats are the flying foxes, with the giant golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus) reaching a weight of 1.6 kg (3 12 lb) and having a wingspan of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in).

The second largest order of mammals after rodents, bats comprise about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with over 1,400 species. These were traditionally divided into two suborders: the largely fruit-eating megabats, and the echolocating microbats. But more recent evidence has supported dividing the order into Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera, with megabats as members of the former along with several species of microbats. Many bats are insectivores, and most of the rest are frugivores (fruit-eaters) or nectarivores (nectar-eaters). A few species feed on animals other than insects; for example, the vampire bats feed on blood. Most bats are nocturnal, and many roost in caves or other refuges; it is uncertain whether bats have these behaviours to escape predators. Bats are present throughout the world, with the exception of extremely cold regions. They are important in their ecosystems for pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds; many tropical plants depend entirely on bats for these services.

Bats provide humans with some direct benefits, at the cost of some disadvantages. Bat dung has been mined as guano from caves and used as fertiliser. Bats consume insect pests, reducing the need for pesticides and other insect management measures. They are sometimes numerous enough and close enough to human settlements to serve as tourist attractions, and they are used as food across Asia and the Pacific Rim. However, fruit bats are frequently considered pests by fruit growers. Due to their physiology, bats are one type of animal that acts as a natural reservoir of many pathogens, such as rabies; and since they are highly mobile, social, and long-lived, they can readily spread disease among themselves. If humans interact with bats, these traits become potentially dangerous to humans. Some bats are also predators of mosquitoes, suppressing the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.

Depending on the culture, bats may be symbolically associated with positive traits, such as protection from certain diseases or risks, rebirth, or long life, but in the West, bats are popularly associated with darkness, malevolence, witchcraft, vampires, and death.

Etymology

An older English name for bats is flittermouse, which matches their name in other Germanic languages (for example German Fledermaus and Swedish fladdermus), related to the fluttering of wings. Middle English had bakke, most likely cognate with Old Swedish natbakka ("night-bat"), which may have undergone a shift from -k- to -t- (to Modern English bat) influenced by Latin blatta, "moth, nocturnal insect". The word "bat" was probably first used in the early 1570s.[2][3] The name "Chiroptera" derives from Ancient Greek: – cheir, "hand"[4] and πτερόν – pteron, "wing".[1][5]

Phylogeny and taxonomy

The early Eocene fossil microchiropteran Icaronycteris, from the Green River Formation

Evolution

The delicate skeletons of bats do not fossilise well; it is estimated that only 12% of bat genera that lived have been found in the fossil record.[6] Most of the oldest known bat fossils were already very similar to modern microbats, such as Archaeopteropus (32 million years ago). The oldest known bat fossils include ?Archaeonycteris praecursor and Altaynycteris aurora (55-56 million years ago), both known only from isolated teeth.[7][8] The oldest complete bat skeleton is Icaronycteris gunnelli (52 million years ago), known from two skeletons discovered in Wyoming.[9][10] The extinct bats Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon and Hassianycteris kumari, both of which lived 48 million years ago, are the first fossil mammals whose colouration has been discovered: both were reddish-brown.[11][12]

Bats were formerly grouped in the superorder Archonta, along with the treeshrews (Scandentia), colugos (Dermoptera), and primates.[13] Modern genetic evidence now places bats in the superorder Laurasiatheria, with its sister taxon as Fereuungulata, which includes carnivorans, pangolins, odd-toed ungulates, even-toed ungulates, and cetaceans.[14][15][16][17][18] One study places Chiroptera as a sister taxon to odd-toed ungulates (Perissodactyla).[19]

Boreoeutheria

Euarchontoglires (primates, treeshrews, rodents, rabbits) File:Cynocephalus doguera - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam - (white background).tiff

Laurasiatheria

Eulipotyphla (hedgehogs, shrews, moles, solenodons)Mole white background.jpg

Scrotifera

Chiroptera (bats) Flying fox at botanical gardens in Sydney (cropped and flipped).jpg

Fereuungulata
Ferae

Pholidota (pangolins) FMIB 46859 Pangolin a grosse queue white background.jpeg

Carnivora (cats, hyenas, dogs, bears, seals) Hyaena striata - 1818-1842 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam -(white background).jpg Zalophus californianus J. Smit (white background).jpg

Euungulata

Perissodactyla (horses, tapirs, rhinos) Equus quagga (white background).jpg

Cetartiodactyla (camels, ruminants, whales) Walia ibex illustration white background.png Megaptera novaeangliae NOAA.jpg

Phylogenetic tree showing Chiroptera within Laurasiatheria, with Fereuungulata as its sister taxon according to a 2013 study[18]

The flying primate hypothesis proposed that when adaptations to flight are removed, megabats are allied to primates by anatomical features not shared with microbats and thus flight evolved twice in mammals.[20] Genetic studies have strongly supported the monophyly of bats and the single origin of mammal flight.[9][20]

Coevolutionary evidence

An independent molecular analysis trying to establish the dates when bat ectoparasites (bedbugs) evolved came to the conclusion that bedbugs similar to those known today (all major extant lineages, all of which feed primarily on bats) had already diversified and become established over 100 mya (i.e., long before the oldest records for bats, 52 mya), suggesting that they initially all evolved on non-bat hosts and "bats were colonized several times independently, unless the evolutionary origin of bats has been grossly underestimated."[21] Fleas, as a group, are quite old (most flea families formed around the end of the Cretaceous[22]), but no analyses have provided estimates for the age of the flea lineages associated with bats. The oldest known members of a different lineage of bat ectoparasites (bat flies), however, are from roughly 20 mya, well after the origin of bats.[23] The bat-ectoparasitic earwig family Arixeniidae has no fossil record, but is not believed to originate more than 23 mya.[24]

Inner systematic

Chiroptera
Megachiroptera

Pteropodidae (megabats) Mariana Fruit Bat.jpg

Microchiroptera
Rhinolophoidea

Megadermatidae (false vampire bats) Megaderma spasma.jpg

Craseonycteridae (Kitti's hog-nosed bat) Craseonycteris thonglongyai.png

Rhinopomatidae (mouse-tailed bats) Rhinopoma microphyllum.jpg

Hipposideridae (Old World leaf-nosed bats) Commerson's leaf-nosed bats hipposideros commersoni.jpg

Rhinolophidae (horseshoe bats) Rhinolophus rouxii.jpg

Yangochiroptera

Miniopteridae (long winged bat) Miniopterus schreibersii dasythrix.jpg

Noctilionidae (fisherman bats) Captive Noctilio leporinus.jpg

Mormoopidae (Pteronotus) Pteronotus parnellii.jpg

Mystacinidae (New Zealand short-tailed bats) MystacinaTuberculataFord.jpg

Thyropteridae (disc-winged bats)

Furipteridae Furipterus horrens.jpg

Mormoopidae (Mormoops) Mormoops megalophylla.JPG

Phyllostomidae (New World leaf-nosed bats) Desmodus rotundus A Catenazzi.jpg

Molossidae (free-tailed bats) Mormopterus beccarii astrolabiensis 1.jpg

Emballonuridae (sac-winged bats) Emballonura semicaudata, Ovalau Island - Joanne Malotaux (22057146275).jpg

Myzopodidae (sucker-footed bats)

Emballonuridae (Taphozous) Mauritian Tomb Bat.jpg

Natalidae (funnel-eared bats) Chilonatalus micropus.png

Vespertilionidae (vesper bats) Barbastella barbastellus 01-cropped.jpg

Internal relationships of the Chiroptera, divided into the traditional megabat and microbat clades, according to a 2011 study[25]

Genetic evidence indicates that megabats originated during the early Eocene, and belong within the four major lines of microbats.[18] Two new suborders have been proposed; Yinpterochiroptera includes the Pteropodidae, or megabat family, as well as the families Rhinolophidae, Hipposideridae, Craseonycteridae, Megadermatidae, and Rhinopomatidae.[26] Yangochiroptera includes the other families of bats (all of which use laryngeal echolocation), a conclusion supported by a 2005 DNA study.[26] A 2013 phylogenomic study supported the two new proposed suborders.[18]

Chiroptera

Yangochiroptera (as above) Pteronotus parnellii.jpg

Yinpterochiroptera

Pteropodidae (megabats) Mariana Fruit Bat.jpg

Rhinolophoidea

Megadermatidae (false vampire bats) Megaderma spasma.jpg

horseshoe bats and allies Rhinolophus rouxii.jpg

Internal relationships of the Chiroptera, with the megabats subsumed within Yinpterochiroptera, according to a 2013 study[18]

The 2003 discovery of an early fossil bat from the 52-million-year-old Green River Formation, Onychonycteris finneyi, indicates that flight evolved before echolocative abilities.[27][28] Onychonycteris had claws on all five of its fingers, whereas modern bats have at most two claws on two digits of each hand. It also had longer hind legs and shorter forearms, similar to climbing mammals that hang under branches, such as sloths and gibbons. This palm-sized bat had short, broad wings, suggesting that it could not fly as fast or as far as later bat species. Instead of flapping its wings continuously while flying, Onychonycteris probably alternated between flaps and glides in the air.[9] This suggests that this bat did not fly as much as modern bats, but flew from tree to tree and spent most of its time climbing or hanging on branches.[29] The distinctive features of the Onychonycteris fossil also support the hypothesis that mammalian flight most likely evolved in arboreal locomotors, rather than terrestrial runners. This model of flight development, commonly known as the "trees-down" theory, holds that bats first flew by taking advantage of height and gravity to drop down on to prey, rather than running fast enough for a ground-level take off.[30][31]

The molecular phylogeny was controversial, as it pointed to microbats not having a unique common ancestry, which implied that some seemingly unlikely transformations occurred. The first is that laryngeal echolocation evolved twice in bats, once in Yangochiroptera and once in the rhinolophoids.[32] The second is that laryngeal echolocation had a single origin in Chiroptera, was subsequently lost in the family Pteropodidae (all megabats), and later evolved as a system of tongue-clicking in the genus Rousettus.[33] Analyses of the sequence of the vocalization gene FoxP2 were inconclusive on whether laryngeal echolocation was lost in the pteropodids or gained in the echolocating lineages.[34] Echolocation probably first derived in bats from communicative calls. The Eocene bats Icaronycteris (52 million years ago) and Palaeochiropteryx had cranial adaptations suggesting an ability to detect ultrasound. This may have been used at first mainly to forage on the ground for insects and map out their surroundings in their gliding phase, or for communicative purposes. After the adaptation of flight was established, it may have been refined to target flying prey by echolocation.[29] Analyses of the hearing gene Prestin seem to favour the idea that echolocation developed independently at least twice, rather than being lost secondarily in the pteropodids,[35] but ontogenic analysis of the cochlea supports that laryngeal echolocation evolved only once.[36]

Classification

Bats are placental mammals. After rodents, they are the largest order, making up about 20% of mammal species.[37] In 1758, Carl Linnaeus classified the seven bat species he knew of in the genus Vespertilio in the order Primates. Around twenty years later, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach gave them their own order, Chiroptera.[38] Since then, the number of described species has risen to over 1,400,[39] traditionally classified as two suborders: Megachiroptera (megabats), and Microchiroptera (microbats/echolocating bats).[40] Not all megabats are larger than microbats.[41] Several characteristics distinguish the two groups. Microbats use echolocation for navigation and finding prey, but megabats apart from those in the genus Rousettus do not.[42] Accordingly, megabats have a well-developed eyesight.[40] Megabats have a claw on the second finger of the forelimb.[43][44] The external ears of microbats do not close to form a ring; the edges are separated from each other at the base of the ear.[44] Megabats eat fruit, nectar, or pollen, while most microbats eat insects; others feed on fruit, nectar, pollen, fish, frogs, small mammals, or blood.[40]

"Chiroptera" from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur, 1904

Below is a table chart following the bat classification of families recognized by various authors of the ninth volume of Handbook of the Mammals of the World published in 2019:[45]

Chiroptera Blumenbach, 1779
Yinpterochiroptera Springer, Teeling, Madsen, Stanhope & Jong, 2001
Pteropodoidea J. E. Gray, 1821
Family English Name Number of Species Image Figure
Pteropodidae J. E. Gray, 1821 Old World fruit bats 191 Pteropus niger three.jpeg
Rhinolophoidea J. E. Gray, 1825
Family English Name Number of Species Image Figure
Rhinopomatidae Bonaparte, 1838 Mouse-tailed bats 6 Mouse-Tailed Bat.jpg
Craseonycteridae Hill, 1974 Hog-nosed bat 1 Craseonycteris thonglongyai.png
Megadermatidae H. Allen, 1864 False-vampires 6 Greater False Vampire Bat (Megaderma lyra).jpg
Rhinonycteridae J. E. Gray, 1866 Trident bats 9 Rhinonicteris aurantia.jpg
Hipposideridae Lydekker, 1891 Old World leaf-nosed bats 88 Bat in a Cave.jpg
Rhinolophidae J. E. Gray, 1825 Horseshoe bats 109 Bat(20070605).jpg
Yangochiroptera Koopman, 1984
Emballonuroidea Gervais in de Castelnau, 1855
Family English Name Number of Species Image Figure
Nycteridae Van der Hoeven, 1855 Slit-faced bats 15 Common Slit-faced Bat (Nycteris thebaica) (7027172215).jpg
Emballonuridae Gervais in de Castelnau, 1855 Sheath-tailed bats 54 Emballonura semicaudata.jpg
Noctilionoidea J. E. Gray, 1821
Family English Name Number of Species Image Figure
Myzopodidae Thomas, 1904 Madagascar sucker-footed bats 2 Myzopoda Myzopodidae.jpg
Mystacinidae Dobson, 1875 New Zealand short-tailed bats 2 Southern short-tailed bats, Mystacina tuberculata.jpg
Thyropteridae Miller, 1907 Disk-winged bats 5 Thyroptera discifera.jpg
Furipteridae J. E. Gray, 1866 Smoky bat and thumbless bat 2 Furipterus horrens.jpg
Noctilionidae J. E. Gray, 1821 Bulldog bats 2 Captive Noctilio leporinus.jpg
Mormoopidae Saussure, 1860 Ghost-faced, naked-backed and mustached bats 18 Mormoops megalophylla.JPG
Phyllostomidae J. E. Gray, 1825 New World leaf-nosed bats 217 Phyllostomus discolor b.jpg
Vespertilionoidea J. E. Gray, 1821
Family English Name Number of Species Image Figure
Natalidae J. E. Gray, 1825 Funnel-eared bats 10 Natalus stramineus.jpg
Molossidae Gervais in de Castelnau, 1855 Free-tailed bats 126 Mormopterus beccarii astrolabiensis 1.jpg
Miniopteridae Dobson, 1875 Long-fingered bats 38 Southern bentwing bat.jpg
Cistugidae Lack et al., 2010 Wing-gland bats 2
Vespertilionidae J. E. Gray, 1821 Vesper bats 496 Vespertilio murinus 2.jpg

Anatomy and physiology

Skull and dentition

A preserved megabat showing how the skeleton fits inside its skin

The head and teeth shape of bats can vary by species. In general, megabats have longer snouts, larger eye sockets and smaller ears, giving them a more dog-like appearance, which is the source of their nickname of "flying foxes".[46] Among microbats, longer snouts are associated with nectar-feeding.[47] while vampire bats have reduced snouts to accommodate large incisors and canines.[48]

Small insect-eating bats can have as many as 38 teeth, while vampire bats have only 20. Bats that feed on hard-shelled insects have fewer but larger teeth with longer canines and more robust lower jaws than species that prey on softer bodied insects. In nectar-feeding bats, the canines are long while the cheek-teeth are reduced. In fruit-eating bats, the cusps of the cheek teeth are adapted for crushing.[47] The upper incisors of vampire bats lack enamel, which keeps them razor-sharp.[48] The bite force of small bats is generated through mechanical advantage, allowing them to bite through the hardened armour of insects or the skin of fruit.[49]

Wings and flight

Main pages: Biology:Bat flight and Biology:Bat wing development

Bats are the only mammals capable of sustained flight, as opposed to gliding, as in the flying squirrel.[50] The fastest bat, the Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), can achieve a ground speed of 160 km/h (100 mph).[51] File:Flapping-Tail-Membrane-in-Bats-Produces-Potentially-Important-Thrust-during-Horizontal-Takeoffs-and-pone.0032074.s004.ogv

The finger bones of bats are much more flexible than those of other mammals, owing to their flattened cross-section and to low levels of calcium near their tips.[52][53] The elongation of bat digits, a key feature required for wing development, is due to the upregulation of bone morphogenetic proteins (Bmps). During embryonic development, the gene controlling Bmp signalling, Bmp2, is subjected to increased expression in bat forelimbs – resulting in the extension of the manual digits. This crucial genetic alteration helps create the specialized limbs required for powered flight. The relative proportion of extant bat forelimb digits compared with those of Eocene fossil bats have no significant differences, suggesting that bat wing morphology has been conserved for over fifty million years.[54] During flight, the bones undergo bending and shearing stress; the bending stresses felt are smaller than in terrestrial mammals, but the shearing stress is larger. The wing bones of bats have a slightly lower breaking stress point than those of birds.[55]

As in other mammals, and unlike in birds, the radius is the main component of the forearm. Bats have five elongated digits, which all radiate around the wrist. The thumb points forward and supports the leading edge of the wing, and the other digits support the tension held in the wing membrane. The second and third digits go along the wing tip, allowing the wing to be pulled forward against aerodynamic drag, without having to be thick as in pterosaur wings. The fourth and fifth digits go from the wrist to the trailing edge, and repel the bending force caused by air pushing up against the stiff membrane.[56] Due to their flexible joints, bats are more maneuverable and more dexterous than gliding mammals.[57]

Wing membranes (patagia) of Townsend's big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii

The wings of bats are much thinner and consist of more bones than the wings of birds, allowing bats to maneuver more accurately than the latter, and fly with more lift and less drag.[58] By folding the wings in toward their bodies on the upstroke, they save 35 percent energy during flight.[59] The membranes are delicate, tearing easily,[60] but can regrow, and small tears heal quickly.[60][61] The surface of the wings is equipped with touch-sensitive receptors on small bumps called Merkel cells, also found on human fingertips. These sensitive areas are different in bats, as each bump has a tiny hair in the center, making it even more sensitive and allowing the bat to detect and adapt to changing airflow; the primary use is to judge the most efficient speed at which to fly, and possibly also to avoid stalls.[62] Insectivorous bats may also use tactile hairs to help perform complex maneuvers to capture prey in flight.[57]

The patagium is the wing membrane; it is stretched between the arm and finger bones, and down the side of the body to the hind limbs and tail. This skin membrane consists of connective tissue, elastic fibres, nerves, muscles, and blood vessels. The muscles keep the membrane taut during flight.[63] The extent to which the tail of a bat is attached to a patagium can vary by species, with some having completely free tails or even no tails.[47] The skin on the body of the bat, which has one layer of epidermis and dermis, as well as hair follicles, sweat glands and a fatty subcutaneous layer, is very different from the skin of the wing membrane. Depending on the bat species the presence of hair follicles and sweat glands will vary in the patagium.[64] This patagium is an extremely thin double layer of epidermis; these layers are separated by a connective tissue center, rich with collagen and elastic fibers. In some bat species sweats glands will be present in between this connective tissue.[65] Furthermore, if hair follicles are present this supports the bat in order to adjust sudden flight maneuvers.[66][67] For bat embryos, apoptosis (programmed cell death) affects only the hindlimbs, while the forelimbs retain webbing between the digits that forms into the wing membranes.[68] Unlike birds, whose stiff wings deliver bending and torsional stress to the shoulders, bats have a flexible wing membrane that can resist only tension. To achieve flight, a bat exerts force inwards at the points where the membrane meets the skeleton, so that an opposing force balances it on the wing edges perpendicular to the wing surface. This adaptation does not permit bats to reduce their wingspans, unlike birds, which can partly fold their wings in flight, radically reducing the wing span and area for the upstroke and for gliding. Hence bats cannot travel over long distances as birds can.[56]

Nectar- and pollen-eating bats can hover, in a similar way to hummingbirds. The sharp leading edges of the wings can create vortices, which provide lift. The vortex may be stabilized by the animal changing its wing curvatures.[69]

Roosting and gaits

Group of megabats roosting

When not flying, bats hang upside down from their feet, a posture known as roosting.[70] The femurs are attached at the hips in a way that allows them to bend outward and upward in flight. The ankle joint can flex to allow the trailing edge of the wings to bend downwards. This does not permit many movements other than hanging or clambering up trees.[56] Most megabats roost with the head tucked towards the belly, whereas most microbats roost with the neck curled towards the back. This difference is reflected in the structure of the cervical or neck vertebrae in the two groups, which are clearly distinct.[70] Tendons allow bats to lock their feet closed when hanging from a roost. Muscular power is needed to let go, but not to grasp a perch or when holding on.[71]

When on the ground, most bats can only crawl awkwardly. A few species such as the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat and the common vampire bat are agile on the ground. Both species make lateral gaits (the limbs move one after the other) when moving slowly but vampire bats move with a bounding gait (all limbs move in unison) at greater speeds, the folded up wings being used to propel them forward. Vampire bat likely evolved these gaits to follow their hosts while short-tailed bats developed in the absence of terrestrial mammal competitors. Enhanced terrestrial locomotion does not appear to have reduced their ability to fly.[72]

Internal systems

Bats have an efficient circulatory system. They seem to make use of particularly strong venomotion, a rhythmic contraction of venous wall muscles. In most mammals, the walls of the veins provide mainly passive resistance, maintaining their shape as deoxygenated blood flows through them, but in bats they appear to actively support blood flow back to the heart with this pumping action.[73][74] Since their bodies are relatively small and lightweight, bats are not at risk of blood flow rushing to their heads when roosting.[75]

Bats possess a highly adapted respiratory system to cope with the demands of powered flight, an energetically taxing activity that requires a large continuous throughput of oxygen. In bats, the relative alveolar surface area and pulmonary capillary blood volume are larger than in most other small quadrupedal mammals.[76] During flight the respiratory cycle has a one-to-one relationship with the wing-beat cycle.[77] Because of the restraints of the mammalian lungs, bats cannot maintain high-altitude flight.[56]

The wings are highly vascularized membranes, the larger blood vessels visible against the light.[78]

It takes a lot of energy and an efficient circulatory system to work the flight muscles of bats. Energy supply to the muscles engaged in flight requires about double the amount compared to the muscles that do not use flight as a means of mammalian locomotion. In parallel to energy consumption, blood oxygen levels of flying animals are twice as much as those of their terrestrially locomoting mammals. As the blood supply controls the amount of oxygen supplied throughout the body, the circulatory system must respond accordingly. Therefore, compared to a terrestrial mammal of the same relative size, the bat's heart can be up to three times larger, and pump more blood.[79] Cardiac output is directly derived from heart rate and stroke volume of the blood;[80] an active microbat can reach a heart rate of 1000 beats per minute.[81]

With its extremely thin membranous tissue, a bat's wing can significantly contribute to the organism's total gas exchange efficiency.[82] Because of the high energy demand of flight, the bat's body meets those demands by exchanging gas through the patagium of the wing. When the bat has its wings spread it allows for an increase in surface area to volume ratio. The surface area of the wings is about 85% of the total body surface area, suggesting the possibility of a useful degree of gas exchange.[82] The subcutaneous vessels in the membrane lie very close to the surface and allow for the diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide.[83]

The digestive system of bats has varying adaptations depending on the species of bat and its diet. As in other flying animals, food is processed quickly and effectively to keep up with the energy demand. Insectivorous bats may have certain digestive enzymes to better process insects, such as chitinase to break down chitin, which is a large component of insects.[84] Vampire bats, probably due to their diet of blood, are the only vertebrates that do not have the enzyme maltase, which breaks down malt sugar, in their intestinal tract. Nectivorous and frugivorous bats have more maltase and sucrase enzymes than insectivorous, to cope with the higher sugar contents of their diet.[85]

The adaptations of the kidneys of bats vary with their diets. Carnivorous and vampire bats consume large amounts of protein and can output concentrated urine; their kidneys have a thin cortex and long renal papillae. Frugivorous bats lack that ability and have kidneys adapted for electrolyte-retention due to their low-electrolyte diet; their kidneys accordingly have a thick cortex and very short conical papillae.[85] Bats have higher metabolic rates associated with flying, which lead to an increased respiratory water loss. Their large wings are composed of the highly vascularized membranes, increasing the surface area, and leading to cutaneous evaporative water loss.[78] Water helps maintain their ionic balance in their blood, thermoregulation system, and removal of wastes and toxins from the body via urine. They are also susceptible to blood urea poisoning if they do not receive enough fluid.[86]

The structure of the uterine system in female bats can vary by species, with some having two uterine horns while others have a single mainline chamber.[87]

Senses

Echolocation

Microbats and a few megabats emit ultrasonic sounds to produce echoes. Sound intensity of these echos are dependent on subglottic pressure. The bats' cricothyroid muscle controls the orientation pulse frequency, which is an important function. This muscle is located inside the larynx and it is the only tensor muscle capable of aiding phonation.[88] By comparing the outgoing pulse with the returning echoes, bats can gather information on their surroundings. This allows them to detect prey in darkness.[89] Some bat calls can reach 140 decibels.[90] Microbats use their larynx to emit echolocation signals through the mouth or the nose.[91] Microbat calls range in frequency from 14,000 to well over 100,000 Hz, extending well beyond the range of human hearing (between 20 and 20,000 Hz).[92] Various groups of bats have evolved fleshy extensions around and above the nostrils, known as nose-leaves, which play a role in sound transmission.[93]

Principle of bat echolocation: orange is the call and green is the echo.

In low-duty cycle echolocation, bats can separate their calls and returning echoes by time. They have to time their short calls to finish before echoes return.[94] The delay of the returning echoes allows the bat to estimate the range to their prey.[92] In high-duty cycle echolocation, bats emit a continuous call and separate pulse and echo in frequency using the Doppler effect of their motion in flight. The shift of the returning echoes yields information relating to the motion and location of the bat's prey. These bats must deal with changes in the Doppler shift due to changes in their flight speed. They have adapted to change their pulse emission frequency in relation to their flight speed so echoes still return in the optimal hearing range.[94][95]

In addition to echolocating prey, bat ears are sensitive to sounds made by their prey, such as the fluttering of moth wings. The complex geometry of ridges on the inner surface of bat ears helps to sharply focus echolocation signals, and to passively listen for any other sound produced by the prey. These ridges can be regarded as the acoustic equivalent of a Fresnel lens, and exist in a large variety of unrelated animals, such as the aye-aye, lesser galago, bat-eared fox, mouse lemur, and others.[96][97][98] Bats can estimate the elevation of their target using the interference patterns from the echoes reflecting from the tragus, a flap of skin in the external ear.[92]

The tiger moth (Bertholdia trigona) can jam bat echolocation.[99][100]

By repeated scanning, bats can mentally construct an accurate image of the environment in which they are moving and of their prey.[101] Some species of moth have exploited this, such as the tiger moths, which produces aposematic ultrasound signals to warn bats that they are chemically protected and therefore distasteful.[99][100] Moth species including the tiger moth can produce signals to jam bat echolocation. Many moth species have a hearing organ called a tympanum, which responds to an incoming bat signal by causing the moth's flight muscles to twitch erratically, sending the moth into random evasive manoeuvres.[102][103][104]

Vision

The eyes of most microbat species are small and poorly developed, leading to poor visual acuity, but no species is blind.[105] Most microbats have mesopic vision, meaning that they can detect light only in low levels, whereas other mammals have photopic vision, which allows colour vision. Microbats may use their vision for orientation and while travelling between their roosting grounds and feeding grounds, as echolocation is effective only over short distances. Some species can detect ultraviolet (UV). As the bodies of some microbats have distinct coloration, they may be able to discriminate colours.[50][106][107][108]

Megabat species often have eyesight as good as, if not better than, human vision. Their eyesight is adapted to both night and daylight vision, including some colour vision.[108]

Magnetoreception

Microbats make use of magnetoreception, in that they have a high sensitivity to the Earth's magnetic field, as birds do. Microbats use a polarity-based compass, meaning that they differentiate north from south, unlike birds, which use the strength of the magnetic field to differentiate latitudes, which may be used in long-distance travel. The mechanism is unknown but may involve magnetite particles.[109][110]

Thermoregulation

Thermographic image of a bat using trapped air as insulation

Most bats are homeothermic (having a stable body temperature), the exception being the vesper bats (Vespertilionidae), the horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae), the free-tailed bats (Molossidae), and the bent-winged bats (Miniopteridae), which extensively use heterothermy (where body temperature can vary).[111][112] Compared to other mammals, bats have a high thermal conductivity. The wings are filled with blood vessels, and lose body heat when extended. At rest, they may wrap their wings around themselves to trap a layer of warm air. Smaller bats generally have a higher metabolic rate than larger bats, and so need to consume more food in order to maintain homeothermy.[113]

Bats may avoid flying during the day to prevent overheating in the sun, since their dark wing-membranes absorb solar radiation. Bats may not be able to dissipate heat if the ambient temperature is too high;[114] they use saliva to cool themselves in extreme conditions.[56] Among megabats, the flying fox Pteropus hypomelanus uses saliva and wing-fanning to cool itself while roosting during the hottest part of the day.[115] Among microbats, the Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis), the Mexican free-tailed bat, and the pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) cope with temperatures up to 45 °C (113 °F) by panting, salivating, and licking their fur to promote evaporative cooling; this is sufficient to dissipate twice their metabolic heat production.[116]

Bats also possess a system of sphincter valves on the arterial side of the vascular network that runs along the edge of their wings. When fully open, these allow oxygenated blood to flow through the capillary network across the wing membrane; when contracted, they shunt flow directly to the veins, bypassing the wing capillaries. This allows bats to control how much heat is exchanged through the flight membrane, allowing them to release heat during flight. Many other mammals use the capillary network in oversized ears for the same purpose.[117]

Torpor

A tricoloured bat (Perimyotis subflavus) in torpor

Torpor, a state of decreased activity where the body temperature and metabolism decreases, is especially useful for bats, as they use a large amount of energy while active, depend upon an unreliable food source, and have a limited ability to store fat. They generally drop their body temperature in this state to 6–30 °C (43–86 °F), and may reduce their energy expenditure by 50 to 99%.[118] Tropical bats may use it to avoid predation, by reducing the amount of time spent on foraging and thus reducing the chance of being caught by a predator.[119] Megabats were generally believed to be homeothermic, but three species of small megabats, with a mass of about 50 grams (1 34 ounces), have been known to use torpor: the common blossom bat (Syconycteris australis), the long-tongued nectar bat (Macroglossus minimus), and the eastern tube-nosed bat (Nyctimene robinsoni). Torpid states last longer in the summer for megabats than in the winter.[120]

During hibernation, bats enter a torpid state and decrease their body temperature for 99.6% of their hibernation period; even during periods of arousal, when they return their body temperature to normal, they sometimes enter a shallow torpid state, known as "heterothermic arousal".[121] Some bats become dormant during higher temperatures to keep cool in the summer months.[122]

Heterothermic bats during long migrations may fly at night and go into a torpid state roosting in the daytime. Unlike migratory birds, which fly during the day and feed during the night, nocturnal bats have a conflict between travelling and eating. The energy saved reduces their need to feed, and also decreases the duration of migration, which may prevent them from spending too much time in unfamiliar places, and decrease predation. In some species, pregnant individuals may not use torpor.[123][124]

Size

The smallest bat is Kitti's hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), which is 29–34 mm (1 181 38 in) long with a 150-millimetre (6 in) wingspan and weighs 2–2.6 g (116332 oz).[125] It is also arguably the smallest extant species of mammal, next to the Etruscan shrew.[126] The largest bats are a few species of Pteropus megabats and the giant golden-crowned flying fox, (Acerodon jubatus), which can weigh 1.6 kg (3 12 lb) with a wingspan of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in).[127] Larger bats tend to use lower frequencies and smaller bats higher for echolocation; high-frequency echolocation is better at detecting smaller prey. Small prey may be absent in the diets of large bats as they are unable to detect them.[128] The adaptations of a particular bat species can directly influence what kinds of prey are available to it.[129]

Ecology

Tent-making bats (Uroderma bilobatum) in Costa Rica

Flight has enabled bats to become one of the most widely distributed groups of mammals.[130] Apart from the Arctic, the Antarctic and a few isolated oceanic islands, bats exist in almost every habitat on Earth.[131] Tropical areas tend to have more species than temperate ones.[132] Different species select different habitats during different seasons, ranging from seasides to mountains and deserts, but they require suitable roosts. Bat roosts can be found in hollows, crevices, foliage, and even human-made structures, and include "tents" the bats construct with leaves.[133] Megabats generally roost in trees.[134] Most microbats are nocturnal[135] and megabats are typically diurnal or crepuscular.[136][137] Microbats are known to exhibit diurnal behaviour in temperate regions during summer when there is insufficient night time to forage,[138][139] and in areas where there are few avian predators during the day.[140][141]

In temperate areas, some microbats migrate hundreds of kilometres to winter hibernation dens;[142] others pass into torpor in cold weather, rousing and feeding when warm weather allows insects to be active.[143] Others retreat to caves for winter and hibernate for as much as six months.[143] Microbats rarely fly in rain; it interferes with their echolocation, and they are unable to hunt.[144]

Food and feeding

File:Microbats' hunting.ogv Different bat species have different diets, including insects, nectar, pollen, fruit and even vertebrates.[145] Megabats are mostly fruit, nectar and pollen eaters.[136] Due to their small size, high-metabolism and rapid burning of energy through flight, bats must consume large amounts of food for their size. Insectivorous bats may eat over 120 percent of their body weight per day, while frugivorous bats may eat over twice their weight.[146] They can travel significant distances each night, exceptionally as much as 38.5 km (24 mi) in the spotted bat (Euderma maculatum), in search of food.[147] Bats use a variety of hunting strategies.[128] Bats get most of their water from the food they eat; many species also drink from water sources like lakes and streams, flying over the surface and dipping their tongues into the water.[148]

The Chiroptera as a whole are in the process of losing the ability to synthesise vitamin C.[149] In a test of 34 bat species from six major families, including major insect- and fruit-eating bat families, all were found to have lost the ability to synthesise it, and this loss may derive from a common bat ancestor, as a single mutation.[150][lower-alpha 2] At least two species of bat, the frugivorous bat (Rousettus leschenaultii) and the insectivorous bat (Hipposideros armiger), have retained their ability to produce vitamin C.[151]

Insects

Most microbats, especially in temperate areas, prey on insects.[145] The diet of an insectivorous bat may span many species,[152] including flies, mosquitos, beetles, moths, grasshoppers, crickets, termites, bees, wasps, mayflies and caddisflies.[47][153][154] Large numbers of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) fly hundreds of metres above the ground in central Texas to feed on migrating moths.[155] Species that hunt insects in flight, like the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), may catch an insect in mid-air with the mouth, and eat it in the air or use their tail membranes or wings to scoop up the insect and carry it to the mouth.[156][157] The bat may also take the insect back to its roost and eat it there.[158] Slower moving bat species, such as the brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) and many horseshoe bat species, may take or glean insects from vegetation or hunt them from perches.[47] Insectivorous bats living at high latitudes have to consume prey with higher energetic value than tropical bats.[159]

Fruit and nectar

An Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) carrying a fig

Fruit eating, or frugivory, is found in both major suborders. Bats prefer ripe fruit, pulling it off the trees with their teeth. They fly back to their roosts to eat the fruit, sucking out the juice and spitting the seeds and pulp out onto the ground. This helps disperse the seeds of these fruit trees, which may take root and grow where the bats have left them, and many species of plants depend on bats for seed dispersal.[160][161] The Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis) has been recorded carrying fruits weighing 3–14 g (1812 oz) or even as much as 50 g (1 34 oz).[162]

Nectar-eating bats have acquired specialised adaptations. These bats possess long muzzles and long, extensible tongues covered in fine bristles that aid them in feeding on particular flowers and plants.[161][163] The tube-lipped nectar bat (Anoura fistulata) has the longest tongue of any mammal relative to its body size. This is beneficial to them in terms of pollination and feeding. Their long, narrow tongues can reach deep into the long cup shape of some flowers. When the tongue retracts, it coils up inside the rib cage.[163] Because of these features, nectar-feeding bats cannot easily turn to other food sources in times of scarcity, making them more prone to extinction than other types of bat.[164][165] Nectar feeding also aids a variety of plants, since these bats serve as pollinators, as pollen gets attached to their fur while they are feeding. Around 500 species of flowering plant rely on bat pollination and thus tend to open their flowers at night.[161] Many rainforest plants depend on bat pollination.[166]

Vertebrates

The greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus) uses its large teeth to catch birds.[167]

Some bats prey on other vertebrates, such as fish, frogs, lizards, birds and mammals.[47][168] The fringe-lipped bat (Trachops cirrhosus,) for example, is skilled at catching frogs. These bats locate large groups of frogs by tracking their mating calls, then plucking them from the surface of the water with their sharp canine teeth.[169] The greater noctule bat can catch birds in flight.[167] Some species, like the greater bulldog bat (Noctilio leporinus) hunt fish. They use echolocation to detect small ripples on the water's surface, swoop down and use specially enlarged claws on their hind feet to grab the fish, then take their prey to a feeding roost and consume it.[170] At least two species of bat are known to feed on other bats: the spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum), and the ghost bat (Macroderma gigas).[171]

Blood

The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) feeds on blood (hematophagy).

A few species, specifically the common, white-winged, and hairy-legged vampire bats, feed only on animal blood (hematophagy). The common vampire bat typically feeds on large mammals such as cattle; the hairy-legged and white-winged vampires feed on birds.[172] Vampire bats target sleeping prey and can detect deep breathing.[173] Heat sensors in the nose help them to detect blood vessels near the surface of the skin.[174] They pierce the animal's skin with their teeth, biting away a small flap,[175] and lap up the blood with their tongues, which have lateral grooves adapted to this purpose.[176] The blood is kept from clotting by an anticoagulant in the saliva.[175]

Predators, parasites, and diseases

Bats are subject to predation from birds of prey, such as owls, hawks, and falcons, and at roosts from terrestrial predators able to climb, such as cats.[177] Low-flying bats are vulnerable to crocodiles.[178] Twenty species of tropical New World snakes are known to capture bats, often waiting at the entrances of refuges, such as caves, for bats to fly past.[179] J. Rydell and J. R. Speakman argue that bats evolved nocturnality during the early and middle Eocene period to avoid predators.[177] The evidence is thought by some zoologists to be equivocal so far.[180]

A little brown bat with white nose syndrome

As are most mammals, bats are hosts to a number of internal and external parasites.[181] Among ectoparasites, bats carry fleas and mites, as well as specific parasites such as bat bugs and bat flies (Nycteribiidae and Streblidae).[182][183] Bats are among the few non-aquatic mammalian orders that do not host lice, possibly due to competition from more specialised parasites that occupy the same niche.[183]

White nose syndrome is a condition associated with the deaths of millions of bats in the Eastern United States and Canada.[184] The disease is named after a white fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, found growing on the muzzles, ears, and wings of affected bats. The fungus is mostly spread from bat to bat, and causes the disease.[185] The fungus was first discovered in central New York State in 2006 and spread quickly to the entire Eastern US north of Florida; mortality rates of 90–100% have been observed in most affected caves.[186] New England and the mid-Atlantic states have, since 2006, witnessed entire species completely extirpated and others with numbers that have gone from the hundreds of thousands, even millions, to a few hundred or less.[187] Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick have witnessed identical die offs, with the Canadian government making preparations to protect all remaining bat populations in its territory.[188] Scientific evidence suggests that longer winters where the fungus has a longer period to infect bats result in greater mortality.[189][190][191] In 2014, the infection crossed the Mississippi River,[192] and in 2017, it was found on bats in Texas.[193]

Bats are natural reservoirs for a large number of zoonotic pathogens,[194] including rabies, endemic in many bat populations,[195][196][197] histoplasmosis both directly and in guano,[198] Nipah and Hendra viruses,[199][200] and possibly the ebola virus,[201][202] whose natural reservoir is yet unknown.[203][204] Their high mobility, broad distribution, long life spans, substantial sympatry (range overlap) of species, and social behaviour make bats favourable hosts and vectors of disease.[205] Reviews have found different answers as to whether bats have more zoonotic viruses than other mammal groups. One 2015 review found that bats, rodents, and primates all harbored significantly more zoonotic viruses (which can be transmitted to humans) than other mammal groups, though the differences among the aforementioned three groups were not significant (bats have no more zoonotic viruses than rodents and primates).[206] Another 2020 review of mammals and birds found that the identity of the taxonomic groups did not have any impact on the probability of harboring zoonotic viruses. Instead, more diverse groups had greater viral diversity.[207]

They seem to be highly resistant to many of the pathogens they carry, suggesting a degree of adaptation to their immune systems.[205][208][209] Their interactions with livestock and pets, including predation by vampire bats, accidental encounters, and the scavenging of bat carcasses, compound the risk of zoonotic transmission.[196] Bats are implicated in the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China, since they serve as natural hosts for coronaviruses, several from a single cave in Yunnan, one of which developed into the SARS virus.[198][210][211] However, they neither cause nor spread COVID-19.[212]

Behaviour and life history

Social structure

File:Bracken Bat Cave evening of 17 June 2017.ogv

Some bats lead solitary lives, while others live in colonies of more than a million.[213] For instance, the Mexican free-tailed bat fly for more than one thousand miles to the 100-foot (30 m) wide cave known as Bracken Cave every March to October which plays home to an astonishing twenty million of the species,[214] whereas a mouse-eared bat lives an almost completely solitary life.[215] Living in large colonies lessens the risk to an individual of predation.[47] Temperate bat species may swarm at hibernation sites as autumn approaches. This may serve to introduce young to hibernation sites, signal reproduction in adults and allow adults to breed with those from other groups.[216]

Several species have a fission-fusion social structure, where large numbers of bats congregate in one roosting area, along with breaking up and mixing of subgroups. Within these societies, bats are able to maintain long-term relationships.[217] Some of these relationships consist of matrilineally related females and their dependent offspring.[218] Food sharing and mutual grooming may occur in certain species, such as the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), and these strengthen social bonds.[219][220]

Communication

Acoustics of the songs of Mexican free-tailed bats[221]

Bats are among the most vocal of mammals and produce calls to attract mates, find roost partners and defend resources. These calls are typically low-frequency and can travel long distances.[47][222] Mexican free-tailed bats are one of the few species to "sing" like birds. Males sing to attract females. Songs have three phrases: chirps, trills and buzzes, the former having "A" and "B" syllables. Bat songs are highly stereotypical but with variation in syllable number, phrase order, and phrase repetitions between individuals.[221] Among greater spear-nosed bats (Phyllostomus hastatus), females produce loud, broadband calls among their roost mates to form group cohesion. Calls differ between roosting groups and may arise from vocal learning.[223]

In a study on captive Egyptian fruit bats, 70% of the directed calls could be identified by the researchers as to which individual bat made it, and 60% could be categorised into four contexts: squabbling over food, jostling over position in their sleeping cluster, protesting over mating attempts and arguing when perched in close proximity to each other. The animals made slightly different sounds when communicating with different individual bats, especially those of the opposite sex.[224] In the highly sexually dimorphic hammer-headed bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus), males produce deep, resonating, monotonous calls to attract females. Bats in flight make vocal signals for traffic control. Greater bulldog bats honk when on a collision course with each other.[222]

Bats also communicate by other means. Male little yellow-shouldered bats (Sturnira lilium) have shoulder glands that produce a spicy odour during the breeding season. Like many other species, they have hair specialised for retaining and dispersing secretions. Such hair forms a conspicuous collar around the necks of the some Old World megabat males. Male greater sac-winged bats (Saccopteryx bilineata) have sacs in their wings in which they mix body secretions like saliva and urine to create a perfume that they sprinkle on roost sites, a behaviour known as "salting". Salting may be accompanied by singing.[222]

Reproduction and life cycle

File:Desmo-kolonie-baum.tif

Most bat species are polygynous, where males mate with multiple females. Male pipistrelle, noctule and vampire bats may claim and defend resources that attract females, such as roost sites, and mate with those females. Males unable to claim a site are forced to live on the periphery where they have less reproductive success.[225][47] Promiscuity, where both sexes mate with multiple partners, exists in species like the Mexican free-tailed bat and the little brown bat.[226][227] There appears to be bias towards certain males among females in these bats.[47] In a few species, such as the yellow-winged bat and spectral bat, adult males and females form monogamous pairs.[47][228] Lek mating, where males aggregate and compete for female choice through display, is rare in bats[229] but occurs in the hammerheaded bat.[230]

For temperate living bats, mating takes place in late summer and early autumn.[231] Tropical bats may mate during the dry season.[232] After copulation, the male may leave behind a mating plug to block the sperm of other males and thus ensure his paternity.[233] In hibernating species, males are known to mate with females in torpor.[47] Female bats use a variety of strategies to control the timing of pregnancy and the birth of young, to make delivery coincide with maximum food ability and other ecological factors. Females of some species have delayed fertilisation, in which sperm is stored in the reproductive tract for several months after mating. Mating occurs in late summer to early autumn but fertilisation does not occur until the following late winter to early spring. Other species exhibit delayed implantation, in which the egg is fertilised after mating, but remains free in the reproductive tract until external conditions become favourable for giving birth and caring for the offspring.[234] In another strategy, fertilisation and implantation both occur, but development of the foetus is delayed until good conditions prevail. During the delayed development the mother keeps the fertilised egg alive with nutrients. This process can go on for a long period, because of the advanced gas exchange system.[235]

Newborn common pipistrelle, Pipistrellus pipistrellus

For temperate living bats, births typically take place in May or June in the northern hemisphere; births in the southern hemisphere occur in November and December. Tropical species give birth at the beginning of the rainy season.[236] In most bat species, females carry and give birth to a single pup per litter.[237] At birth, a bat pup can be up to 40 percent of the mother's weight,[47] and the pelvic girdle of the female can expand during birth as the two-halves are connected by a flexible ligament.[238] Females typically give birth in a head-up or horizontal position, using gravity to make birthing easier. The young emerges rear-first, possibly to prevent the wings from getting tangled, and the female cradles it in her wing and tail membranes. In many species, females give birth and raise their young in maternity colonies and may assist each other in birthing.[239][240][238]

Most of the care for a young bat comes from the mother. In monogamous species, the father plays a role. Allo-suckling, where a female suckles another mother's young, occurs in several species. This may serve to increase colony size in species where females return to their natal colony to breed.[47] A young bat's ability to fly coincides with the development of an adult body and forelimb length. For the little brown bat, this occurs about eighteen days after birth. Weaning of young for most species takes place in under eighty days. The common vampire bat nurses its offspring beyond that and young vampire bats achieve independence later in life than other species. This is probably due to the species' blood-based diet, which is difficult to obtain on a nightly basis.[241]

Life expectancy

The bat scientist Lauri Lutsar is checking the age of the bat he is holding as part of a national monitoring program in Estonia

The maximum lifespan of bats is three-and-a-half times longer than other mammals of similar size. Six species have been recorded to live over thirty years in the wild: the brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus), the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), the Siberian bat (Myotis sibiricus), the lesser mouse-eared bat (Myotis blythii) the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), and the Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus).[242] One hypothesis consistent with the rate-of-living theory links this to the fact that they slow down their metabolic rate while hibernating; bats that hibernate, on average, have a longer lifespan than bats that do not.[243][244]

Another hypothesis is that flying has reduced their mortality rate, which would also be true for birds and gliding mammals. Bat species that give birth to multiple pups generally have a shorter lifespan than species that give birth to only a single pup. Cave-roosting species may have a longer lifespan than non-roosting species because of the decreased predation in caves. A male Siberian bat was recaptured in the wild after 41 years, making it the oldest known bat.[244][245]

Interactions with humans

Conservation

Conservation statuses of bats as of 2020 according to the IUCN (1,314 species in total)[246]

  Critically endangered (1.6%)
  Endangered (6.3%)
  Vulnerable (8.3%)
  Near-threatened (6.7%)
  Least concern (58.0%)
  Data deficient (18.4%)
  Extinct (0.7%)

Groups such as the Bat Conservation International[247] aim to increase awareness of bats' ecological roles and the environmental threats they face. In the United Kingdom, all bats are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Acts, and disturbing a bat or its roost can be punished with a heavy fine.[248] In Sarawak, Malaysia, "all bats"[249] are protected under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998,[249] but species such as the hairless bat (Cheiromeles torquatus) are still eaten by the local communities.[250] Humans have caused the extinction of several species of bat in modern history, the most recent being the Christmas Island pipistrelle (Pipistrellus murrayi), which was declared extinct in 2009.[251]

Many people put up bat houses to attract bats.[252] The 1991 University of Florida bat house is the largest occupied artificial roost in the world, with around 400,000 residents.[253] In Britain, thickwalled and partly underground World War II pillboxes have been converted to make roosts for bats,[254][255] and purpose-built bat houses are occasionally built to mitigate damage to habitat from road or other developments.[256][257] Cave gates are sometimes installed to limit human entry into caves with sensitive or endangered bat species. The gates are designed not to limit the airflow, and thus to maintain the cave's micro-ecosystem.[258] Of the 47 species of bats found in the United States, 35 are known to use human structures, including buildings and bridges. Fourteen species use bat houses.[259]

Bats are eaten in countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim. In some cases, such as in Guam, flying foxes have become endangered through being hunted for food.[260] There is evidence that suggests that wind turbines might create sufficient barotrauma (pressure damage) to kill bats.[261] Bats have typical mammalian lungs, which are thought to be more sensitive to sudden air pressure changes than the lungs of birds, making them more liable to fatal rupture.[262][263][264][265][266] Bats may be attracted to turbines, perhaps seeking roosts, increasing the death rate.[262] Acoustic deterrents may help to reduce bat mortality at wind farms.[267]

The diagnosis and contribution of barotrauma to bat deaths near wind turbine blades have been disputed by other research comparing dead bats found near wind turbines with bats killed by impact with buildings in areas with no turbines.[268]

Cultural significance

Francisco de Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, 1797

Since bats are mammals, yet can fly, they are considered to be liminal beings in various traditions.[269] In many cultures, including in Europe, bats are associated with darkness, death, witchcraft, and malevolence.[270] Among Native Americans such as the Creek, Cherokee and Apache, the bat is identified as a trickster.[271] In Tanzania, a winged batlike creature known as Popobawa is believed to be a shapeshifting evil spirit that assaults and sodomises its victims.[272] In Aztec mythology, bats symbolised the land of the dead, destruction, and decay.[273][274][275] An East Nigerian tale tells that the bat developed its nocturnal habits after causing the death of his partner, the bush-rat, and now hides by day to avoid arrest.[276]

More positive depictions of bats exist in some cultures. In China, bats have been associated with happiness, joy and good fortune. Five bats are used to symbolise the "Five Blessings": longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue and peaceful death.[277] The bat is sacred in Tonga and is often considered the physical manifestation of a separable soul.[278] In the Zapotec civilisation of Mesoamerica, the bat god presided over corn and fertility.[279]

Zapotec bat god, Oaxaca, 350–500 CE

The Weird Sisters in Shakespeare's Macbeth used the fur of a bat in their brew.[280] In Western culture, the bat is often a symbol of the night and its foreboding nature. The bat is a primary animal associated with fictional characters of the night, both villainous vampires, such as Count Dracula and before him Varney the Vampire,[281] and heroes, such as the DC Comics character Batman.[282] Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing novels narrate the adventures of a young bat,[283] based on the silver-haired bat of North America.[284]

The bat is sometimes used as a heraldic symbol in Spain and France, appearing in the coats of arms of the towns of Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Fraga, Albacete, and Montchauvet.[285][286][287] Three US states have an official state bat. Texas and Oklahoma are represented by the Mexican free-tailed bat, while Virginia is represented by the Virginia big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus).[288]

Economics

Insectivorous bats in particular are especially helpful to farmers, as they control populations of agricultural pests and reduce the need to use pesticides. It has been estimated that bats save the agricultural industry of the United States anywhere from $3.7 billion to $53 billion per year in pesticides and damage to crops. This also prevents the overuse of pesticides, which can pollute the surrounding environment, and may lead to resistance in future generations of insects.[289]

Bat dung, a type of guano, is rich in nitrates and is mined from caves for use as fertiliser.[290] During the US Civil War, saltpetre was collected from caves to make gunpowder. At the time, it was believed that the nitrate all came from the bat guano, but it is now known that most of it is produced by nitrifying bacteria.[291]

The Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas , is the summer home to North America's largest urban bat colony, an estimated 1,500,000 Mexican free-tailed bats. About 100,000 tourists a year visit the bridge at twilight to watch the bats leave the roost.[292]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. from the Ancient Greek: – cheir, "hand" and πτερόν – pteron, "wing".[1]
  2. Earlier reports that only fruit bats were deficient were based on smaller samples.[151]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Chiroptera". Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 239–247. 
  2. "Bat". Dictionary.com. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bat?s=ts. 
  3. "Bat, noun 2". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bat. 
  4. Liddell, Henry G.; Scott, Robert, eds. "χείρ". A Greek-English Lexicon. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dxei%2Fr. 
  5. Liddell, Henry G.; Scott, Robert, eds. "πτερόν". A Greek-English Lexicon. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dptero%2Fn. 
  6. Eiting, T. P.; Gunnell, G. F. (2009). "Global completeness of the bat fossil record". Journal of Mammalian Evolution 16 (3): 151–173. doi:10.1007/s10914-009-9118-x. 
  7. Tabuce, Rodolphe; Antunes, Miguel Telles; Sigé, Bernard (2009-06-12). "A new primitive bat from the earliest Eocene of Europe" (in en). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29 (2): 627–630. doi:10.1671/039.029.0204. ISSN 0272-4634. Bibcode2009JVPal..29..627T. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1671/039.029.0204. 
  8. Jones, Matthew F.; Li, Qiang; Ni, Xijun; Beard, K. Christopher (June 2021). "The earliest Asian bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) address major gaps in bat evolution" (in en). Biology Letters 17 (6): 20210185. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2021.0185. ISSN 1744-957X. PMID 34186001. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Simmons, N. B.; Seymour, K. L.; Habersetzer, J.; Gunnell, G. F. (2008). "Primitive Early Eocene bat from Wyoming and the evolution of flight and echolocation". Nature 451 (7180): 818–821. doi:10.1038/nature06549. PMID 18270539. Bibcode2008Natur.451..818S. 
  10. Rietbergen, Tim B.; Ostende, Lars W. van den Hoek; Aase, Arvid; Jones, Matthew F.; Medeiros, Edward D.; Simmons, Nancy B. (2023-04-12). "The oldest known bat skeletons and their implications for Eocene chiropteran diversification" (in en). PLOS ONE 18 (4): e0283505. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0283505. ISSN 1932-6203. PMID 37043445. Bibcode2023PLoSO..1883505R. 
  11. "Paleontologists Determine Original Color of Extinct Bats". SciNews. 29 September 2015. http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/science-original-color-extinct-bats-03283.html. 
  12. Colleary, C.; Dolocanc, A.; Gardnerd, J.; Singha, Suresh; Wuttkee, M. (2015). "Chemical, experimental, and morphological evidence for diagenetically altered melanin in exceptionally preserved fossils". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112 (41): 12592–12597. doi:10.1073/pnas.1509831112. PMID 26417094. Bibcode2015PNAS..11212592C. 
  13. Van de Bussche, R. A.; Hoofer, S. R. (2004). "Phylogenetic relationships among recent chiropteran families and the importance of choosing appropriate out-group taxa". Journal of Mammalogy 85 (2): 321–330. doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2004)085<0321:Prarcf>2.0.Co;2. 
  14. Smith, D.. "Chiroptera: Systematics". University of California Museum of Paleontology. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/eutheria/chirosy.html. 
  15. Eick, G. N.; Jacobs, D. S.; Matthee, C. A. (2005). "A Nuclear DNA Phylogenetic Perspective on the Evolution of Echolocation and Historical Biogeography of Extant Bats (Chiroptera)". Molecular Biology and Evolution 22 (9): 1869–1886. doi:10.1093/molbev/msi180. PMID 15930153. "Several molecular studies have shown that Chiroptera belong to the Laurasiatheria (represented by carnivores, pangolins, cetartiodactyls, eulipotyphlans, and perissodactyls) and are only distantly related to dermopterans, scandentians, and primates. (Nikaido et al. 2000; Lin and Penny 2001; Madsen et al. 2001; Murphy et al. 2001a, 2001b; Van Den Bussche and Hoofer 2004)". 
  16. Pumo, D. E. (1998). "Complete Mitochondrial Genome of a Neotropical Fruit Bat, Artibeus jamaicensis, and a New Hypothesis of the Relationships of Bats to Other Eutherian Mammals". Journal of Molecular Evolution 47 (6): 709–717. doi:10.1007/PL00006430. PMID 9847413. Bibcode1998JMolE..47..709P. 
  17. Zhou, X. (2011). "Phylogenomic Analysis Resolves the Interordinal Relationships and Rapid Diversification of the Laurasiatherian Mammals". Systematic Biology 61 (1): 150–164. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syr089. PMID 21900649. 
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Tsagkogeorga, G.; Parker, J.; Stupka, E.; Cotton, J. A.; Rossiter, S. J. (2013). "Phylogenomic analyses elucidate the evolutionary relationships of bats (Chiroptera)". Current Biology 23 (22): 2262–2267. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.09.014. PMID 24184098. 
  19. Zhang, G.; Cowled, C.; Shi, Z.; Huang, Z.; Bishop-Lilly, K. A.; Fang, X.; Wynne, J. W.; Xiong, Z. et al. (2012). "Comparative Analysis of Bat Genomes Provides Insight into the Evolution of Flight and Immunity". Science 339 (6118): 456–460. doi:10.1126/science.1230835. PMID 23258410. Bibcode2013Sci...339..456Z. 
  20. 20.0 20.1 Bailey, W. J.; Slightom, J. L.; Goodman, M. (1992). "Rejection of the "Flying Primate" Hypothesis by Phylogenetic Evidence from the ε-globin Gene". Science 256 (5053): 86–89. doi:10.1126/science.1301735. PMID 1301735. Bibcode1992Sci...256...86B. 
  21. Roth, Steffen; Balvín, Ondřej; Siva-Jothy, Michael T.; Iorio, Osvaldo Di; Benda, Petr; Calva, Omar; Faundez, Eduardo I.; Khan, Faisal Ali Anwarali et al. (2019-06-03). "Bedbugs Evolved before Their Bat Hosts and Did Not Co-speciate with Ancient Humans" (in English). Current Biology 29 (11): 1847–1853.e4. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.04.048. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 31104934. 
  22. Zhu, Qiyun; Hastriter, Michael; Whiting, Michael; Dittmar, Katherina (September 2015). "Fleas (Siphonaptera) are Cretaceous, and Evolved with Theria". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 90: 129–139. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.04.027. PMID 25987528. 
  23. Poinar, G. O. Jr.; Brown, A. (2012). "The first fossil streblid bat fly, Enischnomyia stegosoma n. g., n. sp. (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea: Streblidae)". Systematic Parasitology 81 (2): 79–86. doi:10.1007/s11230-011-9339-2. PMID 22183917. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51902205. 
  24. Grimaldi, David; Michael Engel (May 2005). "7". Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge Evolution Ser. (1 ed.). Cambridge University: Cambridge University Press. pp. 217–222. ISBN 978-0-521-82149-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=Ql6Jl6wKb88C&q=earwig%20related&pg=PA217. Retrieved 16 November 2009. 
  25. Agnarsson, I.; Zambrana-Torrelio, C. M.; Flores-Saldana, N. P.; May-Collado, L. J. (2011). "A time-calibrated species-level phylogeny of bats (Chiroptera, Mammalia)". PLOS Currents 3: RRN1212. doi:10.1371/currents.RRN1212. PMID 21327164. 
  26. 26.0 26.1 Teeling, E.C.; Springer, M. S.; Madsen, O.; Bates, P.; O'Brien, S. J.; Murphy, W. J. (2005). "A Molecular Phylogeny for Bats Illuminates Biogeography and the Fossil Record". Science 307 (5709): 580–584. doi:10.1126/science.1105113. PMID 15681385. Bibcode2005Sci...307..580T. 
  27. Simmons, N. B.; Seymour, K. L.; Habersetzer, J.; Gunnell, G. F. (2008). "Primitive early Eocene bat from Wyoming and the evolution of flight and echolocation". Nature 451 (7180): 818–816. doi:10.1038/nature06549. PMID 18270539. Bibcode2008Natur.451..818S. 
  28. "Bat fossil solves evolution poser". BBC News. 13 February 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7243502.stm. 
  29. 29.0 29.1 Norberg, U. M. (1994). Wainwright, P. C.; Reilly, S. M.. eds. Ecological Morphology: Integrative Organismal Biology. University of Chicago Press. pp. 206–208. ISBN 978-0-226-86995-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=xf2QW_TS6asC&pg=PA206. 
  30. Bishop, K. L. (2008). "The Evolution of Flight in Bats: Narrowing the Field of Plausible Hypotheses". The Quarterly Review of Biology 83 (2): 153–169. doi:10.1086/587825. PMID 18605533. 
  31. Kaplan, Matt (2011). "Ancient bats got in a flap over food". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2011.9304. 
  32. Teeling; Teeling, E. C.; Scally, M.; Kao, D. J.; Romagnoli, M. L.; Springer, M. S. (2000). "Molecular evidence regarding the origin of echolocation and flight in bats". Nature 403 (6766): 188–192. doi:10.1038/35003188. PMID 10646602. Bibcode2000Natur.403..188T. 
  33. Springer, M. S.; Teeling, E. C.; Madsen, O.; Stanhope, M. J.; De Jong, W. W. (2001). "Integrated fossil and molecular data reconstruct bat echolocation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98 (11): 6241–6246. doi:10.1073/pnas.111551998. PMID 11353869. Bibcode2001PNAS...98.6241S. 
  34. L., G.; Wang, J.; Rossiter, S. J.; Jones, G.; Zhang, S. (2007). "Accelerated FoxP2 evolution in echolocating bats". PLOS ONE 2 (19): e900. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000900. PMID 17878935. Bibcode2007PLoSO...2..900L. 
  35. Li, G.; Wang, J.; Rossiter, S. J.; Jones, G.; Cotton, J. A.; Zhang, S. (2008). "The hearing gene Prestin reunites the echolocating bats". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105 (37): 13959–13964. doi:10.1073/pnas.0802097105. PMID 18776049. Bibcode2008PNAS..10513959L. 
  36. Wang, Zhe; Zhu, Tengteng; Xue, Huiling; Fang, Na; Zhang, Junpeng; Zhang, Libiao; Pang, Jian; Teeling, Emma C. et al. (2017). "Prenatal development supports a single origin of laryngeal echolocation in bats". Nature Ecology & Evolution 1 (2): 21. doi:10.1038/s41559-016-0021. PMID 28812602. Bibcode2017NatEE...1...21W. 
  37. Lei, M.; Dong, D. (2016). "Phylogenomic analyses of bat subordinal relationships based on transcriptome data". Scientific Reports 6: 27726. doi:10.1038/srep27726. PMID 27291671. Bibcode2016NatSR...627726L. 
  38. Neuweiler, Gerhard (2000). "Phylogeny and systematics". The Biology of Bats. Oxford University Press. pp. 287–299. ISBN 978-0195099508. https://books.google.com/books?id=gI-Sly7oq7QC&pg=PA288. 
  39. "Search=Chiroptera". 8 June 2020. https://mammaldiversity.org/#Y2hpcm9wdGVyYSZnbG9iYWxfc2VhcmNoPXRydWUmbG9vc2U9dHJ1ZQ. 
  40. 40.0 40.1 40.2 Prothero, D. R. (2017). "Laurasiatheria: Chiroptera". The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals. Princeton University Press. pp. 112–116. ISBN 978-0-691-15682-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=eiftDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA113. 
  41. Hutcheon, J. M.; Garland, T. (2004). "Are Megabats Big?". Journal of Mammalian Evolution 11 (3/4): 257. doi:10.1023/B:JOMM.0000047340.25620.89. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226036305. 
  42. Holland, R. A. (2004). "Echolocation signal structure in the Megachiropteran bat Rousettus aegyptiacus Geoffroy 1810". Journal of Experimental Biology 207 (25): 4361–4369. doi:10.1242/jeb.01288. PMID 15557022. 
  43. Brown, W. M. (2001). "Natural selection of mammalian brain components". Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16 (9): 471–473. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(01)02246-7. 
  44. 44.0 44.1 Stephen, J.; Olney, P. (1994). Creative Conservation: Interactive Management of Wild and Captive Animals. Springer. p. 352. ISBN 978-0412495700. https://archive.org/details/creativeconserva00magi. 
  45. Wilson, D.E.; Mittermeier, R.A., eds (2019). Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9. Barcelona: Lynx Ediciones. pp. 1–1008. ISBN 978-84-16728-19-0. 
  46. Fleming, T. (2003). A Bat Man in the Tropics: Chasing El Duende. University of California Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0520236066. https://archive.org/details/batmantropicscha00flem. 
  47. 47.00 47.01 47.02 47.03 47.04 47.05 47.06 47.07 47.08 47.09 47.10 47.11 47.12 47.13 Jones, G. (2001). "Bats". in MacDonald, D.. The Encyclopedia of Mammals (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 754–775. ISBN 978-0-7607-1969-5. 
  48. 48.0 48.1 Greenhall, A.M.; Joermann, G.; Schmidt, U. (1983). "Desmodus rotundus". Mammalian Species (202): 1–6. doi:10.2307/3503895. 
  49. Senawi, J.; Schmieder, D.; Siemers, B.; Kingston, T. (2015). "Beyond size – morphological predictors of bite force in a diverse insectivorous bat assemblage from Malaysia". Functional Ecology 29 (11): 1411–1420. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12447. Bibcode2015FuEco..29.1411S. 
  50. 50.0 50.1 Hunter, P. (2007). "The nature of flight: The molecules and mechanics of flight in animals". Science and Society 8 (9): 811–813. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7401050. PMID 17767190. 
  51. McCracken, G. F.; Safi, K.; Kunz, T. H.; Dechmann, D. K. N.; Swartz, S. M.; Wikelski, M. (9 November 2016). "Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats". Royal Society Open Science 3 (11): 160398. doi:10.1098/rsos.160398. PMID 28018618. Bibcode2016RSOS....360398M. 
  52. Norberg, Ulla M. (1972). "Bat wing structures important for aerodynamics and rigidity (Mammalia, Chiroptera)" (in en). Zeitschrift für Morphologie der Tiere 73 (1): 45–61. doi:10.1007/BF00418147. ISSN 1432-234X. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00418147. 
  53. Torres, Diego A.; Freitas, Mariella B.; da Matta, Sérgio L. P.; Novaes, Rômulo D.; Gonçalves, Reggiani Vilela (2019-03-28). "Is bone loss a physiological cost of reproduction in the Great fruit-eating bat Artibeus lituratus?". PLOS ONE 14 (3): e0213781. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213781. ISSN 1932-6203. PMID 30921346. Bibcode2019PLoSO..1413781T. 
  54. Sears, K. E.; Behringer, R. R.; Rasweiler, J. J.; Niswander, L. A. (2006). "Development of bat flight: Morphologic and molecular evolution of bat wing digits". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103 (17): 6581–6586. doi:10.1073/pnas.0509716103. PMID 16618938. Bibcode2006PNAS..103.6581S. 
  55. Kirkpatrick, S. J. (1994). "Scale effects on the stresses and safety factors in the wing bones of birds and bats". Journal of Experimental Biology 190: 195–215. doi:10.1242/jeb.190.1.195. PMID 7964391. 
  56. 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 56.4 Pennycuick, C. J. (2008). "Bats". Modelling the Flying Bird. Elsevier. pp. 136–143. ISBN 978-0-12-374299-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=KG86AgWwFEUC&pg=PA136. 
  57. 57.0 57.1 Marshall, K. L.; Chadha, M.; deSouza, L. A.; Sterbing-D'Angelo, S. J.; Moss, C. F.; Lumpkin, E. A. (2015). "Somatosensory substrates of flight control in bats". Cell Reports 11 (6): 851–858. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2015.04.001. PMID 25937277. 
  58. Brown University (2007). "Bats in Flight Reveal Unexpected Aerodynamics". ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070118161402.htm. 
  59. Riskin, D. K.; Bergou, A.; Breuer, K. S.; Swartz, S. M. (2012). "Upstroke wing flexion and the inertial cost of bat flight". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279 (1740): 2945–2950. doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.0346. PMID 22496186. 
  60. 60.0 60.1 Roberts, W. C. (2006). "Facts and ideas from anywhere". Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center) 19 (4): 425–434. doi:10.1080/08998280.2006.11928217. PMID 17106509. 
  61. Irwin, N. (1997). "Wanted DNA samples from Nyctimene or Paranyctimene Bats". The New Guinea Tropical Ecology and Biodiversity Digest 3: 10. http://papuaweb.anu.edu.au/dlib/jr/ngtebd/03.pdf. 
  62. Sterbing-D'Angelo, S.; Chadha, M.; Chiu, C.; Falk, B.; Xian, W.; Barcelo, J.; Zook, J. M.; Moss, C. F. (2011). "Bat wing sensors support flight control". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (27): 11291–11296. doi:10.1073/pnas.1018740108. PMID 21690408. Bibcode2011PNAS..10811291S. 
  63. Mehlhorn, H. (2013). Bats (Chiroptera) as Vectors of Diseases and Parasites: Facts and Myths. Springer. pp. 2–27. ISBN 978-3-642-39333-4. 
  64. Makanya, Andrew N; Mortola, Jacopo P (December 2007). "The structural design of the bat wing web and its possible role in gas exchange". Journal of Anatomy 211 (6): 687–697. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7580.2007.00817.x. ISSN 0021-8782. PMID 17971117. 
  65. Greville, Lucas J; Ceballos-Vasquez, Alejandra; Valdizón-Rodríguez, Roberto; Caldwell, John R; Faure, Paul A (2018-05-16). "Wound healing in wing membranes of the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)". Journal of Mammalogy 99 (4): 974–982. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyy050. ISSN 0022-2372. 
  66. Sterbing-D'Angelo, Susanne; Chadha, Mohit; Chiu, Chen; Falk, Ben; Xian, Wei; Barcelo, Janna; Zook, John M.; Moss, Cynthia F. (2011-07-05). "Bat wing sensors support flight control". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (27): 11291–11296. doi:10.1073/pnas.1018740108. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 21690408. Bibcode2011PNAS..10811291S. 
  67. Turner, Marian (2011-06-20). "Wing hairs help to keep bats in the air" (in en). Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2011.376. ISSN 1476-4687. https://www.nature.com/articles/news.2011.376. 
  68. Fenton & Simmons 2015, pp. 166–167.
  69. "Leading Edge Vortex Allows Bats to Stay Aloft, Aerospace Professor Reports". USC Viterbi School of Engineering. 29 February 2008. https://viterbi.usc.edu/news/news/2008/leading-edge-vortex.htm. 
  70. 70.0 70.1 Fenton, M. B.; Crerar, L. M. (1984). "Cervical Vertebrae in Relation to Roosting Posture in Bats". Journal of Mammalogy 65 (3): 395–403. doi:10.2307/1381085. 
  71. Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 78.
  72. Riskin, D. K.; Parsons, S.; Schutt, W. A. Jr.; Carter, G. G.; Hermanson, J. W. (2006). "Terrestrial locomotion of the New Zealand short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata and the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus". Journal of Experimental Biology 209 (9): 1725–1736. doi:10.1242/jeb.02186. PMID 16621953. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/79775/1/79775.pdf. 
  73. Jones, T. W. (1852). "Discovery That the Veins of the Bat's Wing (Which are Furnished with Valves) are Endowed with Rythmical [sic] Contractility, and That the Onward Flow of Blood is Accelerated by Each Contraction". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 142: 131–136. doi:10.1098/rstl.1852.0011. 
  74. Dongaonkar, R. M.; Quick, C. M.; Vo, J. C.; Meisner, J. K.; Laine, G. A.; Davis, M. J.; Stewart, R. H. (15 June 2012). "Blood flow augmentation by intrinsic venular contraction in vivo". American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 302 (12): R1436–R1442. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00635.2011. PMID 22513742. 
  75. Langley, L. (29 August 2015). "Bats and Sloths Don't Get Dizzy Hanging Upside Down – Here's Why". National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150829-animals-science-sloths-bats-health-biology/. 
  76. Maina, J. N. (2000). "What it takes to fly: the structural and functional respiratory refinements in birds and bats". Journal of Experimental Biology 203 (20): 3045–3064. doi:10.1242/jeb.203.20.3045. PMID 11003817. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/203/20/3045. 
  77. Suthers, Roderick A.; Thomas, Steven P; Suthers, Barbara A (1972). "Respiration, Wing-Beat and Ultrasonic Pulse Emission in an Echo-Locating Bat". Journal of Experimental Biology 56 (56): 37–48. doi:10.1242/jeb.56.1.37. https://jeb.biologists.org/content/56/1/37. Retrieved 9 August 2019. 
  78. 78.0 78.1 Ben-Hamo, Miriam; Muñoz-Garcia, Agustí; Larrain, Paloma; Pinshow, Berry; Korine, Carmi; Williams, Joseph B. (2016-06-29). "The cutaneous lipid composition of bat wing and tail membranes: a case of convergent evolution with birds". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283 (1833): 20160636. doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.0636. PMID 27335420. 
  79. Jürgens, Klaus Dieter; Bartels, Heinz; Bartels, Rut (1981). "Blood oxygen transport and organ weights of small bats and small non-flying mammals". Respiration Physiology 45 (3): 243–260. doi:10.1016/0034-5687(81)90009-8. PMID 7330485. 
  80. Martini, Frederic (2015). Visual anatomy & physiology. Pearson. pp. 704–705. ISBN 978-0-321-91874-1. OCLC 857980151. 
  81. Wang, LI; Li, Gang; Wang, Jinhong; Ye, Shaohui; Jones, Gareth; Zhang, Shuyi (2009). "Molecular cloning and evolutionary analysis of the GJA1 (connexin43) gene from bats (Chiroptera)". Genetics Research 91 (2): 101–109. doi:10.1017/s0016672309000032. PMID 19393126. 
  82. 82.0 82.1 Makanya, A. N.; Mortola, J. P. (2007). "The structural design of the bat wing web and its possible role in gas exchange". Journal of Anatomy 211 (6): 687–697. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7580.2007.00817.x. PMID 17971117. 
  83. Holbrook, K. A.; Odland, G. F. (1978). "A collagen and elastic network in the wing of the bat". Journal of Anatomy 126 (Pt 1): 21–36. PMID 649500. 
  84. Strobel, S.; Roswag, A.; Becker, N. I.; Trenczek, T. E.; Encarnação, J. A. (2013). "Insectivorous Bats Digest Chitin in the Stomach Using Acidic Mammalian Chitinase". PLOS ONE 8 (9): e72770. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0072770. PMID 24019876. Bibcode2013PLoSO...872770S. 
  85. 85.0 85.1 Schondube, J. E.; Herrera-M, L. Gerardo; Martínez del Rio, C. (2001). "Diet and the evolution of digestion and renal function in phyllostomid bats". Zoology 104 (1): 59–73. doi:10.1078/0944-2006-00007. PMID 16351819. http://www.uwyo.edu/cmdelrio/site/publications_files/bats,%20isotopes,%20and%20kidneys.pdf. 
  86. Lyons, Rachel; Wimberley, Trish (March 2014). Introduction to the Care and Rehabilitation of Microbats (Report). 3.0. Wildcare Australia. p. 12. http://www.bats.org.au/uploads/members/Care-and-Rehabiliation-of-Microbats-V3-Mar14.pdf. Retrieved 5 May 2018. 
  87. Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 164.
  88. Suthers, Roderick; Fattu, James (1973). "Mechanisms of Sound Production by Echolocating Bats". American Zoologist 13 (4): 1215–1226. doi:10.1093/icb/13.4.1215. 
  89. Fenton & Simmons 2015, pp. 82–84.
  90. Surlykke, A.; Elisabeth, K. V. (2008). "Echolocating bats Cry Out Loud to Detect Their Prey". PLOS ONE 3 (4): e2036. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002036. PMID 18446226. Bibcode2008PLoSO...3.2036S. 
  91. Teeling, E. C.; Madsen, O; Van Den Bussche, R. A.; de Jong, W. W.; Stanhope, M. J.; Springer, M. S. (2002). "Microbat paraphyly and the convergent evolution of a key innovation in Old World rhinolophoid microbats". PNAS 99 (3): 1431–1436. doi:10.1073/pnas.022477199. PMID 11805285. Bibcode2002PNAS...99.1431T. 
  92. 92.0 92.1 92.2 Muller, R. (2004). "A numerical study of the role of the tragus in the big brown bat". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 116 (6): 3701–3712. doi:10.1121/1.1815133. PMID 15658720. Bibcode2004ASAJ..116.3701M. 
  93. Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 31.
  94. 94.0 94.1 Jones, G.; Holderied, M. W. (2007). "Bat echolocation calls: adaptation and convergent evolution". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274 (1612): 905–912. doi:10.1098/Rspb.2006.0200. PMID 17251105. 
  95. Fenton, M. B.; Faure, P. A.; Ratcliffe, J. M. (2012). "Evolution of high duty cycle echolocation in bats". The Journal of Experimental Biology 215 (17): 2935–2944. doi:10.1242/jeb.073171. PMID 22875762. 
  96. Pavey, C. R.; Burwell, C. J. (1998). "Bat Predation on Eared Moths: A Test of the Allotonic Frequency Hypothesis". Oikos 81 (1): 143–151. doi:10.2307/3546476. Bibcode1998Oikos..81..143P. 
  97. Sowell, W. A. (1983). "The Bat's Ear as a Diffraction Grating". Air Force Institute of Technology. http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a164098.pdf. 
  98. K., Roman (2009). "Model predicts bat pinna ridges focus high frequencies to form narrow sensitivity beams". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 125 (5): 3454–3459. doi:10.1121/1.3097500. PMID 19425684. Bibcode2009ASAJ..125.3454K. 
  99. 99.0 99.1 Corcoran, A. J.; Barber, J. R.; Conner, W. E. (2009). "Tiger moth jams bat sonar". Science 325 (5938): 325–327. doi:10.1126/science.1174096. PMID 19608920. Bibcode2009Sci...325..325C. 
  100. 100.0 100.1 Hristov, N. I.; Conner, W. E. (2005). "Sound strategy: acoustic aposematism in the bat–tiger moth arms race". Naturwissenschaften 92 (4): 164–169. doi:10.1007/s00114-005-0611-7. PMID 15772807. Bibcode2005NW.....92..164H. 
  101. Surlykke, A.; Ghose, K.; Moss, C. F. (2009). "Acoustic scanning of natural scenes by echolocation in the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus". Journal of Experimental Biology 212 (Pt 7): 1011–1020. doi:10.1242/jeb.024620. PMID 19282498. 
  102. Strauß, J.; Lakes-Harlan, R. (2014). "Evolutionary and Phylogenetic Origins of Tympanal Hearing Organs in Insects". in Hedwig, B.. Insect Hearing and Acoustic Communication. Animal Signals and Communication. 1. Springer. pp. 5–26. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-40462-7_2. ISBN 978-3-642-40462-7. 
  103. Fullard, J. H. (1998). "Moth Ears and Bat Calls: Coevolution or Coincidence?". in Hoy, R. R.; Fay, R. R.; Popper, A. N.. Comparative Hearing: Insects. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4612-6828-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=T-3jBwAAQBAJ. 
  104. Takanashi, Takuma; Nakano, Ryo; Surlykke, A.; Tatsuta, H.; Tabata, J.; Ishikawa, Y.; Skals, N. (2010). "Variation in Courtship Ultrasounds of Three Ostrinia Moths with Different Sex Pheromones". PLOS ONE 5 (10): e13144. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013144. PMID 20957230. Bibcode2010PLoSO...513144T. 
  105. Sophasarun, N.. "Experts debunk bats' bad rap". Online extra. National Geographic. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0204/feature7/online_extra.html. 
  106. Müller, B.; Glösmann, M.; Peichl, L.; Knop, G. C.; Hagemann, C.; Ammermüller, J. (2009). "Bat Eyes Have Ultraviolet-Sensitive Cone Photoreceptors". PLOS ONE 4 (7): e6390. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006390. PMID 19636375. Bibcode2009PLoSO...4.6390M. 
  107. Shen, Y.-Y.; Liu, J.; Irwin, D. M.; Zhang, Y.-P. (2010). "Parallel and Convergent Evolution of the Dim-Light Vision Gene RH1 in Bats (Order: Chiroptera)". PLOS ONE 5 (1): e8838. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008838. PMID 20098620. Bibcode2010PLoSO...5.8838S. 
  108. 108.0 108.1 Wang, D.; Oakley, T.; Mower, J.; Shimmin, L. C.; Yim, S.; Honeycutt, R. L.; Tsao, H.; Li, W. H. (2004). "Molecular evolution of bat color vision genes". Molecular Biology and Evolution 21 (2): 295–302. doi:10.1093/molbev/msh015. PMID 14660703. 
  109. Wang, Y.; Pan, Y.; Parsons, S.; Walker, M.; Zhang, S. (2007). "Bats Respond to Polarity of a Magnetic Field". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274 (1627): 2901–2905. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0904. PMID 17848365. 
  110. Tian, L.-X.; Pan, Y.-X.; Metzner, W.; Zhang, J.-S.; Zhang, B.-F. (2015). "Bats Respond to Very Weak Magnetic Fields". PLOS ONE 10 (4): e0123205. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123205. PMID 25922944. Bibcode2015PLoSO..1023205T. 
  111. Nowack, J.; Stawski, C.; Geiser, F. (2017). "More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world". Journal of Comparative Physiology B 187 (5–6): 889–897. doi:10.1007/s00360-017-1100-y. PMID 28432393. 
  112. Stawski, C.; Willis, C. K. R.; Geiser, F. (2014). "The importance of temporal heterothermy in bats". J Zool 292 (2): 86–100. doi:10.1111/jzo.12105. 
  113. Altringham 2011, pp. 99–100.
  114. Voigt, C. C.; Lewanzik, D. (2011). "Trapped in the darkness of the night: thermal and energetic constraints of daylight flight in bats". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278 (1716): 2311–2317. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2290. PMID 21208959. 
  115. Ochoa-Acuña, H.; Kunz, T.H. (1999). "Thermoregulatory behavior in the small island flying fox, Pteropus hypomelanus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae)". Journal of Thermal Biology 24 (1): 15–20. doi:10.1016/S0306-4565(98)00033-3. 
  116. Licht, Paul; Leitner, Philip (1967). "Physiological responses to high environmental temperatures in three species of microchiropteran bats". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 22 (2): 371–387. doi:10.1016/0010-406X(67)90601-9. 
  117. Neuweiler, Gerhard (2000). "The Circulatory and Respiratory Systems". The Biology of Bats. Oxford University Press. pp. 43–62. ISBN 978-0-1950-9951-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=gI-Sly7oq7QC&pg=PA43. 
  118. Geiser, F.; Stawski, C. (2011). "Hibernation and Torpor in Tropical and Subtropical Bats in Relation to Energetics, Extinctions, and the Evolution of Endothermy". Integrative and Comparative Biology 51 (3): 337–338. doi:10.1093/icb/icr042. PMID 21700575. 
  119. Stawski, C.; Geiser, F. (2010). "Fat and Fed: Frequent Use of Summer Torpor in a Subtropical Bat". Naturwissenschaften 97 (1): 29–35. doi:10.1007/s00114-009-0606-x. PMID 19756460. Bibcode2010NW.....97...29S. 
  120. Zubaid, A.; McCracken, G. F.; Kunz, T. (2006). Functional and Evolutionary Ecology of Bats. Oxford University Press. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-19-515472-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=nA0TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA14. 
  121. Knight, K. (2012). "Bats Use Torpor to Minimise Costs". Journal of Experimental Biology 215 (12): iii. doi:10.1242/jeb.074823. 
  122. Bondarenco, A.; Körtner, G.; Geiser, F. (2016). "How to Keep Cool in a Hot Desert: Torpor in Two Species of Free-Ranging Bats in Summer". Temperature 6 (3): 476–483. doi:10.1080/23328940.2016.1214334. PMID 28349087. 
  123. McGuire, L. P.; Jonassen, K. A.; Guglielmo, C. G. (2014). "Bats on a Budget: Torpor-Assisted Migration Saves Time and Energy". PLOS ONE 9 (12): e115724. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115724. PMID 25551615. Bibcode2014PLoSO...9k5724M. 
  124. Hamilton, I. M.; Barclay, R. M. R. (1994). "Patterns of daily torpor and day-roost selection by male and female big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus)". Canadian Journal of Zoology 72 (4): 744. doi:10.1139/z94-100. https://zenodo.org/record/8204807. 
  125. "Bumblebee bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai)". EDGE Species. http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=49. 
  126. "Kitti's Hog-Nosed Bat Is World's Smallest Mammal". SciTechDaily. 3 December 2012. https://scitechdaily.com/kittis-hog-nosed-bat-is-worlds-smallest-mammal/. 
  127. Nowak, R. M., editor (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Vol. 1. 6th edition. pp. 264–271. ISBN:0-8018-5789-9
  128. 128.0 128.1 Gonsalves, L.; Bicknell, B.; Law, B.; Webb, C.; Monamy, V. (2013). "Mosquito Consumption by Insectivorous Bats: Does Size Matter?". PLOS ONE 8 (10): e77183. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077183. PMID 24130851. Bibcode2013PLoSO...877183G. 
  129. Dechmann, D. K. N.; Safi, K.; Vonhof, M. J. (2006). "Matching Morphology and Diet in the Disc-Winged Bat Thyroptera tricolor (Chiroptera)". Journal of Mammalogy 87 (5): 1013–1019. doi:10.1644/05-MAMM-A-424R2.1. 
  130. Thomas, S. P.; Suthers, R. A. (1972). "Physiology and energetics of bat flight". Journal of Experimental Biology 57 (2): 317–335. doi:10.1242/jeb.57.2.317. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/jexbio/57/2/317.full.pdf. 
  131. "Bats of the World". Bat Conservation Trust. http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/bats_of_the_world.html. 
  132. Fenton & Simmons 2015, pp. 32.
  133. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Vol 13 Mammals II (2nd ed.). 2003. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-7876-5362-0. 
  134. Altringham 2011, p. 21.
  135. "The Art and Science of Bats". Smithsonian Institution. 7 December 2010. http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/batfacts.htm. 
  136. 136.0 136.1 Schwab, I. R.; Pettigrew, J. (2005). "A choroidal sleight of hand". British Journal of Ophthalmology 89 (11): 1398. doi:10.1136/bjo.2005.077966. PMID 16267906. 
  137. Alexander, D. E. (2015). On the Wing: Insects, Pterosaurs, Birds, Bats and the Evolution of Animal Flight. Oxford University Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0199996773. 
  138. Speakman, J. R. (1990). "The function of daylight flying in British bats". Journal of Zoology 220 (1): 101–113. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1990.tb04296.x. 
  139. Speakman, J. R.; Rydell, J.; Webb, P. I.; Hayes, J. P.; Hays, G. C.; Hulbert, I. a. R.; McDevitt, R. M. (2000). "Activity patterns of insectivorous bats and birds in northern Scandinavia (69° N), during continuous midsummer daylight". Oikos 88 (1): 75–86. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.880109.x. Bibcode2000Oikos..88...75S. 
  140. Chua, Marcus A. H.; Aziz, Sheema Abdul (19 December 2018). "Into the light: atypical diurnal foraging activity of Blyth's horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus lepidus (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) on Tioman Island, Malaysia". Mammalia 83 (1): 78–83. doi:10.1515/mammalia-2017-0128. 
  141. Moore, N. W. (1975). "The diurnal flight of the Azorean bat (Nyctalus azoreum) and the avifauna of the Azores". Journal of Zoology 177 (4): 483–486. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1975.tb02248.x. 
  142. Fenton 2001, pp. 60–62.
  143. 143.0 143.1 Fenton 2001, pp. 93–94.
  144. Wolchover, N. (5 May 2011). "Why Bats Hate Rain". LiveScience. https://www.livescience.com/33258-bats-hate-rain.html. 
  145. 145.0 145.1 Fenton & Simmons 2015, pp. 104–107.
  146. Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 116.
  147. Rabe, M. J. (June 1998). "Long Foraging Distance for a Spotted Bat (Euderma Maculatum) in Northern Arizona". The Southwestern Naturalist 43 (2): 266–269. 
  148. Fenton & Simmons 2015, pp. 76.
  149. Cui, J.; Yuan, X.; Wang, L.; Jones, G.; Zhang, S. (2011). "Recent loss of vitamin C biosynthesis ability in bats". PLOS ONE 6 (11): e27114. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027114. PMID 22069493. Bibcode2011PLoSO...627114C. 
  150. Jenness, R.; Birney, E.; Ayaz, K. (1980). "Variation of L-gulonolactone oxidase activity in placental mammals". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B 67 (2): 195–204. doi:10.1016/0305-0491(80)90131-5. 
  151. 151.0 151.1 Cui, J.; Pan, Y. H.; Zhang, Y.; Jones, G.; Zhang, S. (2011). "Progressive pseudogenization: vitamin C synthesis and its loss in bats". Mol. Biol. Evol. 28 (2): 1025–31. doi:10.1093/molbev/msq286. PMID 21037206. 
  152. Fenton & Simmons 2015, pp. 108–110.
  153. Wray, Amy K.; Jusino, Michelle A.; Banik, Mark T.; Palmer, Jonathan M.; Kaarakka, Heather; White, J. Paul; Lindner, Daniel L.; Gratton, Claudio et al. (2018). "Incidence and taxonomic richness of mosquitoes in the diets of little brown and big brown bats". Journal of Mammalogy 99 (3): 668–674. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyy044. 
  154. Patriquin, Krista J; Guy, Cylita; Hinds, Joshua; Ratcliffe, John M (1 January 2019). "Male and female bats differ in their use of a large urban park". Journal of Urban Ecology 5 (1): juz015. doi:10.1093/jue/juz015. https://academic.oup.com/jue/article/5/1/juz015/5572591. Retrieved 13 December 2020. 
  155. McCracken, G. F.; Gillam, E. H.; Westbrook, J. K.; Lee, Y. F.; Jensen, M. L.; Balsley, B. B. (2008). "Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis: Molossidae, Chiroptera) at high altitude: Links to migratory insect populations". Integrative and Comparative Biology 48 (1): 107–118. doi:10.1093/icb/icn033. PMID 21669777. 
  156. "Little Brown Bat". Penn State University. http://www.psu.edu/dept/nkbiology/naturetrail/speciespages/little_brown_bat.html. 
  157. Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 120.
  158. Fitt, G. P. (1989). "The ecology of Heliothis species in relation to agro-ecosystems". Annual Review of Entomology 34: 17–52. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.34.1.17. 
  159. Boyles, J. G.; McGuire, L. P.; Boyles, E.; Reimer, J. P.; Brooks, C. A.; Rutherford, R. W.; Rutherford, T. A.; Whitaker, J. O. Jr. et al. (2016). "Physiological and behavioral adaptations in bats living at high latitudes". Physiology and Behavior 165: 322–327. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.08.016. PMID 27542518. 
  160. "Bats as Dispersers of Plants in the Lowland Forests of Central French Guiana". New York Botanical Garden. https://www.nybg.org/botany/tlobova/mori/batsplants/batdispersal/batdispersal_frameset.htm. 
  161. 161.0 161.1 161.2 Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 115.
  162. Ortega, J.; Castro-Arellano, I. (2001). "Artibeus jamaicensis". Mammalian Species (662): 1–9. doi:10.1644/1545-1410(2001)662<0001:aj>2.0.co;2. 
  163. 163.0 163.1 Chamberlain, T. (6 December 2006). "Photo in the News: Bat Has Longest Tongue of Any Mammal". National Geographic News. National Geographic Society. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061206-tongue-photo.html. "A. fistulata (shown lapping sugar water from a tube) has the longest tongue, relative to body length, of any mammal – and now scientists think they know why." 
  164. Arita, H. T.; Santos-Del-Prado, K.; Arita, H.T. (1999). "Conservation Biology of Nectar-Feeding Bats in Mexico". Journal of Mammalogy 80 (1): 31–41. doi:10.2307/1383205. 
  165. Gerardo, H.; Hobson, K. A.; Adriana, M. A.; Daniel, E. B.; Sanchez-Corero, V.; German, M. C. (2001). "The Role of Fruits and Insects in the Nutrition of Frugivorous Bats: Evaluating the Use of Stable Isotope Models". Biotropica 33 (3): 520–528. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2001.tb00206.x. Bibcode2001Biotr..33..520H. 
  166. Hodgkison, R.; Balding, S. T.; Zuibad, A.; Kunz, T. H. (2003). "Fruit Bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) as Seed Dispersers and Pollinators in a Lowland Malaysian Rain Forest". Biotropica 35 (4): 491–502. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2003.tb00606.x. Bibcode2003Biotr..35..491H. 
  167. 167.0 167.1 Popa-Lisseanu, A. G.; Delgado-Huertas, A.; Forero, M. G.; Rodríguez, A.; Arlettaz, R.; Ibáñez, C. (2007). "Bats' Conquest of a Formidable Foraging Niche: The Myriads of Nocturnally Migrating Songbirds". PLOS ONE 2 (2): e205. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000205. PMID 17299585. Bibcode2007PLoSO...2..205P. 
  168. Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 107.
  169. Cramer, M. J.; Wilig, M. R.; Jones, C. (2001). "Trachops cirrhosus". Mammalian Species (656): 1–6. doi:10.1644/1545-1410(2001)656<0001:TC>2.0.CO;2. 
  170. Schnitzler, H.-U.; Kalko, E. K. V.; Kaipf, I.; Grinnell, A. D. (1994). "Fishing and Echolocation Behavior of the Greater Bulldog Bat, Noctilio leporinus, in the Field". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 35 (5): 327–345. doi:10.1007/BF00184422. 
  171. Fenton 2001, pp. 4–5.
  172. Greenhall, A. M. (1961). Bats in Agriculture. A Ministry of Agriculture Publication. p. 8. 
  173. Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 119.
  174. Wilkinson, G. (1990). "Food Sharing in Vampire Bats". Scientific American 262 (21): 76–82. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0290-76. Bibcode1990SciAm.262b..76W. http://www.stoppinginvasives.com/dotAsset/39c01b98-9a18-4715-bd36-adefe87d7c56.pdf. 
  175. 175.0 175.1 Nowak, R. M. (1991). Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins Press. p. 1629. ISBN 978-0-8018-3970-2. https://archive.org/details/walkersmammalsof01nowa/page/1629. 
  176. "Vampire Bats – The Good, the Bad, and the Amazing". Natural Science Research Laboratory – Texas Tech. http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/about/Outreach/Exhibits/Vampire%20Bat%20exhibit.pdf. 
  177. 177.0 177.1 Rydell, J.; Speakman, J. R. (1995). "Evolution of nocturnality in bats: Potential competitors and predators during their early history". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 54 (2): 183–191. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1995.tb01031.x. 
  178. BBC Earth (10 April 2015). "Flying Foxes Vs Freshwater Crocodile". https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=235&v=wi30w-Mk2yQ&feature=emb_logo. 
  179. Esbérard, C. E. L.; Vrcibradic, D. (2007). "Snakes preying on bats: new records from Brazil and a review of recorded cases in the Neotropical Region". Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 24 (3): 848–853. doi:10.1590/S0101-81752007000300036. 
  180. Lima, S. L.; O'Keefe, J. M. (2013). "Do predators influence the behaviour of bats?". Biological Reviews 88 (3): 626–644. doi:10.1111/brv.12021. PMID 23347323. 
  181. Léger, Clément (2020). "Bat parasites (Acari, Anoplura, Cestoda, Diptera, Hemiptera, Nematoda, Siphonaptera, Trematoda) in France (1762–2018): a literature review and contribution to a checklist". Parasite 27: 61. doi:10.1051/parasite/2020051. ISSN 1776-1042. PMID 33206593.  open access
  182. Klimpel, S.; Mehlhorn, H. (2013). Bats (Chiroptera) as Vectors of Diseases and Parasites: Facts and Myths. Springer. p. 87. ISBN 978-3-642-39333-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=Li6_BAAAQBAJ. 
  183. 183.0 183.1 Clayton, D. H.; Bush, S. E.; Johnson, K. P. (2015). Coevolution of Life on Hosts: Integrating Ecology and History. University of Chicago Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-226-30227-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=lN0pCwAAQBAJ. 
  184. "White-Nose Syndrome (WNS)". National Wildlife Health Center, U.S. Geological Survey. http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/white-nose_syndrome/. 
  185. Lorch, J. M.; Meteyer, C. U.; Behr, M. J.; Boyles, J. G.; Cryan, P. M.; Hicks, A. C.; Ballmann, A. E.; Coleman, J. T. H. et al. (2011). "Experimental infection of bats with Geomyces destructans causes white-nose syndrome". Nature 480 (7377): 376–378. doi:10.1038/nature10590. PMID 22031324. Bibcode2011Natur.480..376L. 
  186. "White-Nose Syndrome – Background". Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre. http://www.cwhc-rcsf.ca/wns.php. 
  187. Daly, M. (14 November 2013). "Pennsylvania's Bats Nearly Wiped Out". CBS Philadelphia. http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/11/14/pennsylvanias-bats-nearly-wiped-out/. 
  188. Gutenberg, G. (7 June 2012). "White-nose syndrome killing Canada's bats". Postmedia Network. http://o.canada.com/technology/white-nose-syndrome-killing-canadas-bats. 
  189. "Canada : Environment Canada Announces Funding to Fight Threat of White-nose Syndrome to Bats". Mena Report. 6 April 2013. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Canada+%3A+Environment+Canada+Announces+Funding+to+Fight+Threat+of...-a0325180192. 
  190. "Social Bats Pay a Price: Fungal Disease, White-Nose Syndrome ... Extinction?". The National Science Foundation. 3 July 2012. https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=124679. 
  191. Frick, W. F.; Pollock, J. F.; Hicks, A. C.; Langwig, K. E.; Reynolds, D. S.; Turner, G. G.; Butchkoski, C. M.; Kunz, T. H. (2010). "An Emerging Disease Causes Regional Population Collapse of a Common North American Bat Species". Science 329 (5992): 679–682. doi:10.1126/science.1188594. PMID 20689016. Bibcode2010Sci...329..679F. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/143. 
  192. "White-Nose Syndrome Confirmed in Illinois Bats: Illinois becomes 20th state in U.S. to confirm deadly disease in bats". Illinois Department of Natural Resources. 28 February 2013. https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/sites/default/files/files/wns_illinois_detection_final_upload.pdf. 
  193. "Fungus that Causes White-nose Syndrome in Bats Detected in Texas". Texas Parks and Wildlife. 23 March 2017. https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20170323c. 
  194. Wong, S.; Lau, S.; Woo, P.; Yuen, K.-Y. (October 2006). "Bats as a continuing source of emerging infections in humans". Reviews in Medical Virology (John Wiley & Sons) 17 (2): 67–91. doi:10.1002/rmv.520. PMID 17042030. "The currently known viruses that have been found in bats are reviewed and the risks of transmission to humans are highlighted.". 
  195. McColl, K. A.; Tordo, N.; Setien Aquilar, A. A. (2000). "Bat lyssavirus infections". Revue Scientifique et Technique 19 (1): 177–196. doi:10.20506/rst.19.1.1221. PMID 11189715. "Bats, which represent approximately 24% of all known mammalian species, frequently act as vectors of lyssaviruses.". 
  196. 196.0 196.1 Calisher, C. H.; Childs, J. E.; Field, H. E.; Holmes, K. V.; Schountz, T. (2006). "Bats: Important Reservoir Hosts of Emerging Viruses". Clinical Microbiology Reviews 19 (3): 531–545. doi:10.1128/CMR.00017-06. PMID 16847084. 
  197. Brüssow, H. (2012). "On Viruses, Bats and Men: A Natural History of Food-Borne Viral Infections". Viruses: Essential Agents of Life. pp. 245–267. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4899-6_12. ISBN 978-94-007-4898-9. 
  198. 198.0 198.1 "CDC Features – Take Caution When Bats Are Near". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 14 April 2014. https://www.cdc.gov/features/bats/. 
  199. Eaton, Bryan T.; Broder, Christopher C.; Middleton, Deborah; Wang, Lin-Fa (2006). "Hendra and Nipah viruses: different and dangerous". Nature Reviews Microbiology 4 (1): 23–35. doi:10.1038/nrmicro1323. PMID 16357858. 
  200. Halpin, K.; Young, P. L.; Field, H. E.; Mackenzie, J. S. (2000). "Isolation of Hendra virus from pteropid bats: a natural reservoir of Hendra virus". Journal of General Virology 81 (8): 1927–1932. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-81-8-1927. PMID 10900029. "In this paper we describe the isolation of HeV from pteropid bats, corroborating our serological and epidemiological evidence that these animals are a natural reservoir host of this virus.". 
  201. Leroy, E. M.; Kumulungui, B.; Pourrut, X.; Rouque, P. (2005). "Fruit bats as reservoirs of Ebola virus". Nature 438 (7068): 575–576. doi:10.1038/438575a. PMID 16319873. Bibcode2005Natur.438..575L. "We find evidence of asymptomatic infection by Ebola virus in three species of megabats, indicating that these animals may be acting as a reservoir for this deadly virus.". 
  202. Choi, C. Q. (2006). "Going to Bat". Scientific American: pp. 24, 26. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=going-to-bat. "Long known as vectors for rabies, bats may be the origin of some of the most deadly emerging viruses, including SARS, Ebola, Nipah, Hendra and Marburg."  Note: This is a lay summary of the various scientific publications cited in the preceding sentence.
  203. "What is Ebola Virus Disease?". 5 November 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/about.html. "Scientists do not know where Ebola virus comes from." 
  204. Rewar, Suresh; Mirdha, Dashrath (2015). "Transmission of Ebola Virus Disease: An Overview". Annals of Global Health 80 (6): 444–51. doi:10.1016/j.aogh.2015.02.005. PMID 25960093. "Despite concerted investigative efforts, the natural reservoir of the virus is unknown.". 
  205. 205.0 205.1 Castro, J. (6 February 2013). "Bats Host More Than 60 Human-Infecting Viruses". Live Science. http://www.livescience.com/26898-bats-host-human-infecting-viruses.html. 
  206. Olival, Kevin J.; Weekley, Cristin C.; Daszak, Peter (2015). "Are Bats Really 'Special' as Viral Reservoirs? What We Know and Need to Know". Bats and Viruses. pp. 281–294. doi:10.1002/9781118818824.ch11. ISBN 978-1118818824. 
  207. Mollentze, Nardus; Streicker, Daniel G. (2020). "Viral zoonotic risk is homogenous among taxonomic orders of mammalian and avian reservoir hosts". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 (17): 9423–9430. doi:10.1073/pnas.1919176117. PMID 32284401. Bibcode2020PNAS..117.9423M. 
  208. Dobson, A. P. (2005). "What Links Bats to Emerging Infectious Diseases?". Science 310 (5748): 628–629. doi:10.1126/science.1120872. PMID 16254175. 
  209. "Why Do Bats Transmit So Many Diseases?". IFL Science. 6 August 2014. http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/why-do-bats-transmit-so-many-diseases/. 
  210. Li, W.; Shi, Z.; Yu, M.; Ren, W. (28 October 2005). "Bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses". Science 310 (5748): 676–679. doi:10.1126/science.1118391. PMID 16195424. Bibcode2005Sci...310..676L. https://zenodo.org/record/3949088. "The genetic diversity of bat-derived sequences supports the notion that bats are a natural reservoir host of the SARS cluster of coronaviruses.". 
  211. Drosten, C.; Hu, B.; Zeng, L.-P.; Yang, X.-L.; Ge, Xing-Yi; Zhang, Wei; Li, Bei; Xie, J.-Z. et al. (2017). "Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus". PLOS Pathogens 13 (11): e1006698. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1006698. PMID 29190287. 
  212. Srinivasulu, C.; Molur, S. (2020). "Bats don't cause or spread Covid-19". Zoo's Print 35 (4): 1–3. https://www.zoosprint.zooreach.org/index.php/zp/article/view/5669/5086. 
  213. Fenton 2001, pp. 95–107.
  214. "How Many Species of Bats Are There?". 14 March 2018. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/bat-species.html. 
  215. Barkham, Patrick (12 June 2018). "The last bat: the mystery of Britain's most solitary animal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/12/the-last-bat-the-mystery-of-britains-most-solitary-animal. 
  216. Fenton & Simmons 2015, pp. 188–189.
  217. Kerth, G.; Perony, N.; Schweitzer, F. (2011). "Bats are able to maintain long-term social relationships despite the high fission–fusion dynamics of their groups". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278 (1719): 2761–2767. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2718. PMID 21307051. 
  218. Fornůsková, A; Petit, E. J.; Bartonička, T.; Kaňuch, P.; Butet, A.; Řehák, Z.; Bryja, J. (2014). "Strong matrilineal structure in common pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) is associated with variability in echolocation calls". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 113 (4): 1115–1125. doi:10.1111/bij.12381. 
  219. Carter, G. G.; Wilkinson, G. S. D. (2013). "Does food sharing in vampire bats demonstrate reciprocity?". Communicative & Integrative Biology 6 (6): e25783. doi:10.4161/cib.25783. PMID 24505498. 
  220. Wilkinson, G. S. (1986). "Social Grooming in the Common Vampire Bat, Desmodus rotundus". Anim. Behav. 34 (6): 1880–1889. doi:10.1016/s0003-3472(86)80274-3. http://www.life.umd.edu/faculty/wilkinson/Wilk_AB86.pdf. 
  221. 221.0 221.1 Bohn, K. M.; Schmidt-French, Barbara; Schwartz, Christine; Smotherman, Michael; Pollak, George D. (2009). "Versatility and Stereotypy of Free-Tailed Bat Songs". PLOS ONE 4 (8): e6746. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006746. PMID 19707550. Bibcode2009PLoSO...4.6746B. 
  222. 222.0 222.1 222.2 Fenton & Simmons 2015, pp. 190–194.
  223. Boughman, J. W. (1998). "Vocal learning by greater spear-nosed bats". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 265 (1392): 227–233. doi:10.1098/rspb.1998.0286. PMID 9493408. 
  224. Prat, Y.; Taub, M.; Yovel, Y. (22 December 2016). "Everyday bat vocalizations contain information about emitter, addressee, context, and behavior". Scientific Reports 6: 39419. doi:10.1038/srep39419. PMID 28005079. Bibcode2016NatSR...639419P. 
  225. Wilkinson, G. S. (1985). "The Social Organization of the Common Vampire Bat II: Mating system, genetic structure, and relatedness". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 17 (2): 123–134. doi:10.1007/BF00299244. http://www.life.umd.edu/faculty/wilkinson/Wilk_BES85b.pdf. 
  226. Thomas, D. W.; Fenton, M. R.; Barclay, R. M. R. (1979). "Social Behavior of the Little Brown Bat, Myotis lucifugus: I. Mating Behavior". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 6 (2): 129–136. doi:10.1007/bf00292559. 
  227. Keeley, A. T. H.; Keeley, B. W. (2004). "The Mating System of Tadarida brasiliensis (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in a Large Highway Bridge Colony". Journal of Mammalogy 85: 113–119. doi:10.1644/BME-004. 
  228. Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 197.
  229. Toth, C. A.; Parsons, S. (2013). "Is lek breeding rare in bats?". Journal of Zoology 291 (1): 3–11. doi:10.1111/jzo.12069. 
  230. Bradbury, J. W. (1977). "Lek Mating Behavior in the Hammer-headed Bat". Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 45 (3): 225–255. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1977.tb02120.x. https://zenodo.org/record/8204647. 
  231. Altringham 2011, p. 105.
  232. Mares, M. A.; Wilson, D. E. (1971). "Bat Reproduction during the Costa Rican Dry Season". BioScience 21 (10): 471–472+477. doi:10.2307/1295789. 
  233. Elizabeth G. Crichton; Philip H. Krutzsch (12 June 2000). Reproductive Biology of Bats. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-08-054053-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=f1aNgZwGsYoC. 
  234. Altringham 2011, p. 114–119.
  235. Neuweiler, G. (2000). Biology of Bats. Oxford University Press. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-19-509950-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Gtp4yWnPD9YC&q=Biology+Bats. 
  236. Fenton, M. B. (1983). Just Bats. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1442655386. https://books.google.com/books?id=cueMBgAAQBAJ&q=bat+breeding+seasons&pg=PT100. 
  237. Kunz, T. H.; Fenton, B. (2005). Bat Ecology. University of Chicago Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0226462073. 
  238. 238.0 238.1 Fenton 2001, p. 166.
  239. Nagorsen, D. W.; Brigham, R. M. (1993). Bats of British Columbia. UBC Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0774804820. 
  240. Altringham 2011, p. 119.
  241. Fenton & Simmons 2015, p. 171.
  242. Nowak, Ronald M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World (illustrated ed.). JHU Press. p. 269. ISBN 978-0801857898. 
  243. Turbill, C.; Bieber, C.; Ruf, T. (2011). "Hibernation is associated with increased survival and the evolution of slow life histories among mammals". Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278 (1723): 3355–3363. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.0190. PMID 21450735. 
  244. 244.0 244.1 Wilkinson, G. S.; South, J. M. (2002). "Life history, ecology and longevity in bats". Aging Cell 1 (2): 124–131. doi:10.1046/j.1474-9728.2002.00020.x. PMID 12882342. http://www.life.umd.edu/faculty/wilkinson/Wilk_South02.pdf. 
  245. Gager, Y.; Gimenez, O.; O'Mara, M. T.; Dechmann, D. K. N. (2016). "Group size, survival and surprisingly short lifespan in socially foraging bats". BMC Ecology 16 (2): 2. doi:10.1186/s12898-016-0056-1. PMID 26767616. Bibcode2016BMCE...16....2G. 
  246. "Taxonomy: Chiroptera". https://www.iucnredlist.org/search/stats. 
  247. "Mission & Vision". Bat Conservation International. http://www.batcon.org/about-us/about-bci/mission-vision. 
  248. "Bats and the Law". Bat Conservation Trust. http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/bats_and_the_law.html. 
  249. 249.0 249.1 "Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998". FAO. http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/mal95115.pdf. 
  250. Leong, T. M.; Teo, S. C.; Lim, K. K. P. (2009). "The Naked Bulldog Bat, Cheiromeles torquatus in Singapore – past and present records, with highlights on its unique morphology (Microchiroptera: Molossidae)". Nature in Singapore 2: 215–230. 
  251. Ceballos, G.; Ehrlich, A. H.; Ehrlich, P. R. (2015). The Annihilation of Nature: Human Extinction of Birds and Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 75–76. ISBN 978-1421417189. 
  252. "All about bats". Bat Conservation International. 24 January 2002. http://www.batcon.org/. 
  253. "Welcome to the World's Largest Occupied Bat Houses". Florida Museum of Natural History. https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/index.php/bats/home/. 
  254. "Protecting and managing underground sites for bats, see section 6.4.". Eurobats. http://www.eurobats.org/documents/pdf/AC9/Doc_AC9_15_Protecting_underground_sites.pdf. 
  255. "Pillbox converted to bat retreat". BBC. 6 April 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4885642.stm. 
  256. "Bypass wings it with bat bridges". BBC. 4 April 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/7330846.stm. 
  257. "Bat bridges cost £27k per animal". BBC. 22 October 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/8320610.stm. 
  258. "Agency Guide to Cave and Mine Gates 2009". http://www.batcon.org/pdfs/sws/AgencyGuideCaveMineGating2009.pdf. 
  259. Pfeiffer, Martin J. (February 2019). Bats, People, and Buildings: Issues and Opportunities. Madison, WI: United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo117356. Retrieved 26 March 2019. 
  260. Hopkins, J.; Bourdain, A. (2004). Extreme Cuisine: The Weird & Wonderful Foods that People Eat. Periplus. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-7946-0255-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=DJDKaxEEfYgC&pg=PA51. 
  261. Baerwald, E. F.; D'Amours, G. H.; Klug, B. J.; Barclay, R. M. R. (2008). "Barotrauma is a significant cause of bat fatalities at wind turbines". Current Biology 18 (16): R695–R696. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.06.029. PMID 18727900. 
  262. 262.0 262.1 "B.C. study to help bats survive wind farms". National Wind Watch. 23 September 2008. http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/09/23/bc-study-to-help-bats-survive-wind-farms/. Retrieved 19 April 2015. 
  263. "Bats take a battering at wind farms", New Scientist, 12 May 2007
  264. "Caution Regarding Placement of Wind Turbines on Wooded Ridge Tops". Bat Conservation International. 4 January 2005. http://vawind.org/Assets/Docs/BCI_ridgetop_advisory.pdf. 
  265. Arnett, E. B.; Erickson, W. P. (12 June 2005). "Relationships between Bats and Wind Turbines in Pennsylvania and West Virginia: An Assessment of Fatality Search Protocols, Patterns of Fatality, and Behavioral Interactions with Wind Turbines". Bat Conservation International. http://batcon.org/wind/BWEC2004finalreport.pdf. 
  266. Baerwald, E. F.; D'Amours, G.H.; Klug, Brandon J.; Barclay, R. M. R. (26 August 2008). "Barotrauma is a significant cause of bat fatalities at wind turbines". Current Biology 18 (16): R695–R696. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.06.029. OCLC 252616082. PMID 18727900. 
  267. Johnson, J. B.; Ford, W. M.; Rodrigue, J. L.; Edwards, J. W. (2012). Effects of Acoustic Deterrents on Foraging Bats. U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. pp. 1–5. https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo36973. 
  268. Rollins, K.E.; Meyerholz, D.; Johnson, D.; Capparella, A.; Loew, S. (January 2012). "A Forensic Investigation Into the Etiology of Bat Mortality at a Wind Farm: Barotrauma or Traumatic Injury?". Veterinary Pathology 49 (2): 362–371. doi:10.1177/0300985812436745. PMID 22291071. 
  269. McCracken, G. F. (1993). "Folklore and the Origin of Bats". BATS Magazine. Bats in Folklore 11 (4). 
  270. Chwalkowski, F. (2016). Symbols in Arts, Religion and Culture: The Soul of Nature. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 523. ISBN 978-1443857284. 
  271. Chwalkowski, Farrin (2016). Symbols in Arts, Religion and Culture: The Soul of Nature. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 523. ISBN 978-1443857284. 
  272. Saleh, A. (19 July 2001). "Sex-mad 'ghost' scares Zanzibaris". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1446733.stm. 
  273. "Aztec Symbols". Aztec-history.net. http://www.aztec-history.net/aztec_symbols. 
  274. Read, K. A.; Gonzalez, J. J. (2000). Mesoamerican Mythology. Oxford University Press. pp. 132–134. ISBN 978-0195149098. https://archive.org/details/mesoamericanmyth0000read/page/132. 
  275. "Artists Inspired by Oaxaca Folklore Myths and Legends". Oaxacanwoodcarving.com. http://www.oaxacanwoodcarving.com/mythnatr.html. 
  276. Arnott, K. (1962). African Myths and Legends. Oxford University Press. pp. 150–152. 
  277. "Chinese symbols". British Museum. https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Chinese_symbols_1109.pdf. 
  278. Grant, G. S.. "Kingdom of Tonga: Safe Haven for Flying Foxes". Batcon.org. http://www.batcon.org/index.php/media-and-info/bats-archives.html?task=viewArticle&magArticleID=757. 
  279. Cartwright, M. (28 October 2013). "Zapotec Civilization". World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/Zapotec_Civilization/. 
  280. de Vries, A. (1976). Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery. Amsterdam: North-Holland. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-7204-8021-4. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/36. 
  281. Miller, Elizabeth (1998). "Bats, Vampires & Dracula". Newsletter of the Florida Bat Conservation Centre (Fall 1998). http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/bats_vamp_drac.html. Retrieved 19 December 2017. 
  282. Fleisher, M. L. (1976). The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Volume 1 Batman. Collier Books. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-02-080090-3. 
  283. "Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel". Kirkus Reviews. 1997. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kenneth-oppel/silverwing/. 
  284. Oppel, K.. "The Characters: Shade". Kenneth Oppel. http://www.kennethoppel.ca/silverwing/shade.shtml. ""Shade is based on a Silver-Haired Bat. I thought they were very dashing-looking creatures. I liked the fact this was a bat that lived in the same part of the world as me (eastern Canada). These are small creatures, with a wing span of a few inches. Their bodies are about the same size as mice. They're insectivores, which means they eat only insects." – K.O." 
  285. Tramoyeres Blasco, L.. "Lo Rat Penat en el escudo de armas de Valencia" (in es). http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/FichaObra.html?Ref=23879&portal=33. 
  286. Alomar i Canyelles, A. I. (1998). L'Estendard, la festa nacional més antiga d'Europa. Palma. pp. xiii–xxi. 
  287. "Estudio de los escudos recogidos en la orla de latabla de la magistratura" (in es). Emblemata Revista Aragonesa de Emblematica 6: 242. 2005. http://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/25/75/_ebook.pdf. 
  288. "Official state bats". Netstate. http://www.netstate.com/states/tables/state_bats.htm. 
  289. Boyles, Justin G.; Cryan, Paul M.; McCracken, Gary F.; Kunz, Thomas H. (2011). "Economic Importance of Bats in Agriculture". Science 332 (6025): 41–42. doi:10.1126/science.1201366. PMID 21454775. Bibcode2011Sci...332...41B. 
  290. Weaver, H. D. (2008). Missouri Caves in History and Legend. University of Missouri Press. pp. 64–69. ISBN 978-0-8262-6645-3. https://archive.org/details/missouricavesinh00weav. 
  291. Whisonant, R. C. (2001). "Geology and History of Confederate Saltpeter Cave Operations in Western Virginia". Virginia Minerals 47 (4): 33–43. https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commercedocs/VAMIN_VOL47_NO04.pdf. Retrieved 24 September 2017. 
  292. Christensen, RaeAnn. "Best time to see the bat colony emerge from Congress Bridge in Downtown Austin". Fox7. http://www.fox7austin.com/news/local-news/165481229-story. 

Sources

  • Altringham, J. D. (2011). Bats: From Evolution to Conservation. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199207114. 
  • Fenton, M. B. (2001). Bats. Checkmark Books. ISBN 978-0-8160-4358-3. 
  • Fenton, M. B.; Simmons, N. B. (2015). Bats: A World of Science and Mystery. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226065120. 

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q28425 entry