Bats Need Heroes

Little brown bat removed from a pantry

Vesper bats found roosting on homes

Big Brown Bat, Epesticus fuscus

eastern red bat using its uropatagium for warmth/camoflage

Eastern red bat, Lasiurus borealis, using its tail as a blanket

Stripe-headed round-eared bat, Tonatia saurophila, and White-throated round-eared bat, Lophostoma silvicolum

Guano containing seeds left on glove after handling a small fruit bat

Seeds in guano left in glove by a small fruit bat during handling

A tent-making bat, Uroderma bilobatum

Mexican free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis, exiting the Congress Avenue bridge in Austin, Texas

Common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus

Assistant Producer Rotunda is named after Desmodus rotundus, the common vampire bat

Derek’s Field Notes

Common Name: Bats!

Order: Chiroptera (“hand wing”)

Speaking generally, not all powers in all bats (1400+ species), but there are a few species which are better studied than others and some of those abilities can probably be found in other species too

Powers

Flight (super strength, agility, speed)

Hands are wings: reduced index finger, but similar dexterity

Patagium is skin and can similarly heal very well from small tears

Each bat has a unique “wing print”

Some bats use uropatagium to scoop prey or as a third wing

Can pluck a spider from its web without getting captured or do backflips to catch insects in flight

Flip upside down to land

They can fly with a pup that weighs a third of their body weight

Fastest animal on planet (Mexican free-tailed 160 kilometres per hour aka 100 mph - have radiators to dissipate heat, technically extremophiles due to high ammonia in caves)

Bats are basically running a fever constantly during flight

Super Metabolism/Appetite

Consuming over half their body weight a night

High volume, low processing strategy (lots of guano!)

Nectar feeding bats can convert/use sugar from nectar into energy within 20minutes of ingesting

Some fruit bats do not seem to be able to get drunk, they process ethanol without toxicity

Can also slow their metabolism way down during torpor - essentially becoming cold blooded (vulnerable to disturbance during this time)

Echolocation

Tied to wing movements as a “free action”

Extremely loud, muscles in ears flex to prevent deafening themselves when calling

Each species has distinct call frequencies like bird songs (some also sing to attract mates, or recruit their friends to new roosts)

End of The Dark Knight or the Detective Vision in Arkham games

Superfast twitch muscles allow for a “terminal buzz”, fasted mammalian muscles, emit hundreds of short calls

Bats also eavesdrop on other echolocation calls to find optimal foraging spaces

Most bat echolocation is inaudible to humans (I will have to splice in a clip)

Some bats (and insects) are capable of “jamming” other bats

Many echolocate through their nose, similar to humming (one genus clicks their tongues)

Humans can learn to echolocate

Other Senses

Some also have a great sense of smell for locating food

Not blind, vision comparable to a dog or rat for smaller species which echolocate, vision comparable to a cat for flying foxes

Vision is trusted for longer distance navigation as echolocation attenuates rapidly (bats may memorize an route or area and echolocate less while commuting)

Some bats can see polarized light (Myotis myotis, likely others)

Magnetic orientation has been found in Big Brown Bat (likely others)

Vampire bats also have heat sensing in their nose

Stealth and Surveillence

Some bats get around eared insects by echolocating at different frequencies (very low or high) or by gleaning (stealth mode)

Trachops aka the fringe-lipped bat specializes in hunting frogs and finds them when the males call for mates

Trachops can be trained to associate other sounds with food - Noseleaf.org

Singing and Dancing

Many male bats sing to attract a mate

Some produce fragrances - glands located on shoulders, head, wings, or back - and then they dance to waft the odors around

Lekking behavior in some species, such as the hammerheaded bat which honks

Extreme Longevity