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Bats as Pollinators
This may come as a surprise to you (or not): Many bats play an important role as pollinators! For example, the Mexican Long-nosed Bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) is one of the pollinators of Agave, the plant we get tequila from.
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Charlotte the orphaned baby flying-fox enjoys a massage
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Vampire bats are the only bats that can run!
There are a few bats that can walk, and they do it in order to search for things at ground level. Vampire bats do this specifically to sneak up on sleeping animals (usually cows, birds, or other mammals depending on the species) to get a meal. However, unlike other species, the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), can run. Unlike most other animals which use their hind legs to propel themselves forwards, vampire bats use their windows to propel themselves.
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Baby bats babble like humans.
Fruit bats stand in for vocal-learning mammals in isolation tests to test language development
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Common Bacterium Cures Bats' White-nose Syndrome!
A bacterium found in soil and used to make food flavorings has cured 150 bats of White-nose Syndrome. Continue reading →
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Tiny Hairs on Bats' Wings Are Key to Their Maneuverability
Bat wings sport a unique touch-receptor design, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Cell Reports. Tiny sensory cells associated with fine hairs on the bat wing likely enable the animals to change the shape of their wings in a split second, granting them impressive midair maneuverability.
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A Bat's Secret to Flying Like a Boss? Tiny, Tiny Hairs
Scientists show that bats use microscopic hairs on their wings to feel their way through the air.
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Bacteria on Bats May Help Fight White-Nose Syndrome : DNews
Tests show promise in suppressing the deadly disease.
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'Bag of Chips' Effect: Bats Eavesdrop on Other Bats to Find Food
When I hear my husband rummaging in the pantry, I often walk over to see if he's found anything good. It turns out bats do something similar by using sound to direct them to the best places to find food. Like all bats, the greater mouse-tailed bat (Rhinopoma microphyllum) uses echolocation—a type of built-in sonar—to navigate and find prey. When it comes close to an insect, the bat sends out calls that bounce off its prey, helping the predator zero in.
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New Details Emerge on Mystery Bat-Killer Disease
For the first time, scientists have developed a detailed explanation of how white-nose syndrome is killing millions of bats in North America.
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First Ebola boy likely infected by playing in bat tree
The Ebola victim who is believed to have triggered the current outbreak - a two-year-old boy called Emile Ouamouno from Guinea - may have been infected by playing in a hollow tree housing a colony of bats, say scientists.
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Why are wind farms killing so many bats?
Infrared video reveals bats get up close and personal with spinning blades.
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Gold-coloured bat is 'new species'
A golden bat from Bolivia has been described as a new species by scientists.
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Bats 'fly by polarised light'
Bats use the pattern of polarised light in the evening sky to get their bearings, according to a new study.
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Why Blood Tastes Good to Vampires ... Bats, That Is
The blood diet of vampire bats has reduced their ability to detect bitter and otherwise yucky tasting flavors, according to a new study that could help explain the unusual cravings of these flying mammals. The study, published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, puts vampire bats on the growing list of animals with unusual senses of taste. That list includes marine mammals such as dolphins, which swallow their food whole and so don’t spend a lot of time savoring...
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Why did 100,000 dead bats reportedly fall out of the sky in Australia?
While blistering cold continues to punish most of North America, here is your friendly annual reminder that summer is in full swing down in Australia.
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600,000 bats killed at wind energy facilities in 2012, study says
Over 600,000 bats were killed by wind energy turbines across the United States last year, with the highest concentration of kills in the Appalachian Mountains, according to new research.
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8 of Nature’s Thirstiest Bloodsuckers
From insects to mammals to deepwater lurkers to even birds—in the spirit of Halloween, here's our list of animals out for blood.
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Tiny bats use leaves as megaphones to call home
Bats are climbing inside curled leaves and using them to amplify sound, marking the first time an animal has been observed using a tool to increase its vocalization range. A recent study has shown...
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Bizarre Sighting: Cane Toad Eating a Bat?
A cane toad has been photographed with a bat in its mouth in the coastal forests of Peru, perhaps the first time that this has been photographically documented.
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