Published on 28 August 2019
Bats are incredible creatures. Below are some fun bat facts so you can learn more about these interesting animals!
- Bats are flying mammals.
- While others can glide, bats are the only mammals capable of continued flight.
- There are over 1000 different bat species.
- Bats are nocturnal (active at night).
- Bats ‘see’ in the dark using a special skill called echolocation. Bats make noises and wait for the sound waves to bounce back off objects (an echo), if it doesn’t bounce back then they can safely fly forward. They can tell the distance of various objects by how quickly the sound waves bounce back to them.
- Most bats feed on insects, while others eat fruit, fish or even blood!
- There are three species of vampire bats which feed solely on blood.
- Some bats live by themselves while others live in caves with thousands of other bats.
- Bats can live for over 20 years.
- Pteropus bats (also known as flying foxes or fruit bats) are the largest in the world.
- Their wing is very much like a human arm and hand, except it has a thin membrane of skin (called the patagium) extending between the “hand” and the body, and between each finger bone. Bats can move the wing like a hand, essentially “swimming” through the air.
