Bat Trivia

• Bats are ancient animals that have been around at least 50 million years. Despite this incredible length of time they still look much like their fossil ancestors.
• Bats are the only mammal that is truly capable flight. Of the nearly 4000 species of mammals, they make up 25%, that means there are close to 1000 species of bats in the world.
• The scientific name for bats is Chiroptera which means "hand-wing". Bats are either classified as Megachiroptera (large hand-wing) or Microchiroptera (small hand-wing).
• Bats are gentle mammals and will typically bite only if frightened or provoked. Many species are social and some have even been known to care for each other's young.
• The smallest mammal in the world is the Bumblebee bat from Thailand, which weighs less than a penny. The largest bats are the flying foxes, one of which has a six foot wing span.
• Bats eat a large variety of foods. Different species of bats consume fish, frogs, insects, fruits, small mammals and even other bats. Only 3 species of bats are vampire bats; they are found in Central and South America, these bats feed on the blood of birds and mammals.
• Many tropical bats are sometimes called keystone species. Many plants rely on bats to spread their seeds and to pollinate flowers. Some of these plants include columnar cacti, bananas, mangoes, cashews, dates, figs, and agave. Agave is used to produce tequila, the seed production in this plant drops substantially without bats as pollinators.
• Bat droppings (guano) is an excellent fertilizer and is mined for that purpose in some countries. Salt peter used in artillery shells was once made from bat guano.
• Contrary to popular belief bats have very good eyesight. In addition to vision bats use sound (echolocation) to navigate in the dark and find food.
• Bats reproduce very slowly, most females have only one pup per year. Bats that survive to adulthood may live as long as 30 years. The oldest recorded bat is the little brown bat, at 34 years old.
• A group of bats is called a colony and bats live in roosts. Their natural roosts are trees (where they hang from branches, under loose bark, and in moss) and caves. Due to loss of natural roosts and habitat many species have learned to live in man-made structures such as buildings, bridges and culverts.
• Forty-five species of bats are found in the United States. At least 6 of these are on the Endangered Species List, many others (nearly 40%) are classified as threatened, rare, or status undetermined.