bat

mammal
Alternate titles: Chiroptera
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Mexican free-tailed bat

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vampire bat leaf-nosed bat bulldog bat Microchiroptera Megachiroptera

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bat, (order Chiroptera), any member of the only group of mammals capable of flight.
This ability, coupled with the ability to navigate at night by using a system of acoustic
orientation (echolocation), has made the bats a highly diverse and populous order. More
than 1,200 species are currently recognized, and many are enormously abundant.
Observers have concluded, for example, that some 100 million female Mexican free-
tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana) form summer nursery colonies in Texas,
where they produce about 100 million young in five large caves. The adult males are
equal in number to the females, though they do not all range as far north as Texas.
Furthermore, this species is found throughout tropical America. Thus, one species alone
numbers, at the very least, in the hundreds of millions.
General features
Learn about bats roosting habits, food habits, and their echolocation ability
A colony of bats leaving their roost at twilight to feed on insects. Also, echolocation being used by a
bat to orient itself as it clings to a cave ceiling.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.See all videos for this article
All bats have a generally similar appearance in flight, dominated by the expanse of the
wings, but they vary considerably in size. The order is usually divided into two well-
defined suborders: the Megachiroptera (the large Old World fruit bats) and
the Microchiroptera (small bats found worldwide). Among members of the
Megachiroptera, flying foxes (Pteropus) have a wingspan of 1.5 metres (about 5 feet) and
a weight of 1 kg (2.2 pounds). The largest insectivorous bat is probably the naked, or
hairless, bat (Cheiromeles torquatus); it weighs about 250 grams (about 9 ounces). The
largest of the carnivorous bats (and the largest bat in the New World) is the spectral bat
(Vampyrum spectrum), also known as the tropical American false vampire bat, with a
wingspan of over 60 cm (24 inches). The tiny hog-nosed, or bumblebee, bat
(Craseonycteris thonglongyai) of Thailand is one of the smallest mammals. It has a
wingspan of barely 15 cm (6 inches) and weighs about 2 grams (about 0.07 ounce).
 BRITANNICA QUIZ

Bats: True or False?

Are bats really blind? How many species of bats are there, anyway? See if you can tell fact

from fiction in this quiz all about bats.

Bats vary in colour and in fur texture. Facial appearance, dominated by the muzzle and
ears, varies strikingly between families and often between genera. In several families a
complex fleshy adornment called the nose leaf surrounds the nostrils. Although the
exact function of these facial appurtenances has yet to be determined, scientists believe
they may help to direct outgoing echolocation calls (see below Orientation). Wing
proportions are modified according to mode of flight. The tail and the membrane
between the legs also differ, perhaps as adaptations to feeding, flight, and roosting
habits. Finally, bats vary in the postures they assume when roosting, particularly in
whether they hang suspended or cling to a wall and in the manner in which the wings
are folded and used.
Distribution
Bats are particularly abundant in the tropics. In West Africa, for example, more than 30
genera embracing nearly 100 species have been cataloged; in the United States 19
genera, totaling about 45 species, are known. Of the 18 bat families, 3—the vesper bats
(family Vespertilionidae), free-tailed bats (family Molossidae), and horseshoe
bats (family Rhinolophidae)—are well represented in the temperate zones. A few
American leaf-nosed bats (family Phyllostomidae) range into mild temperate regions.
Several vesper bats range well into Canada.