![]() Ghost Bat: Australia’s False Vampire A ghost bat at Sydney’s Featherdale Wildlife Park.When light shines through the leaf tent, the white bats appear green – offering them a bit of additional camouflage.ĭue to Costa Rica’s well-developed wildlife viewing programs, you can observe wild white bats up close at places like Tirimbina Reserve and Pierella Ecological Garden. The bats cluster in these tents, which provide protection from weather and predators. They use their teeth to cut neat lines along large leaf veins, which folds the leaf down into little tents. Honduran white bats are one of 22 species of tent-making bats that live in the Central American forest. But the striking white coloration actually serves an evolutionary purpose. Photo © Jeffrey Munoz/TNC Photo Contest 2019Ĭlustered together on a leaf, Honduran white bats look like little cotton balls. Honduran White Bat: The Tent Maker A Honduran white bat.Texas’ Bracken Cave is home to 15 to 20 million free-tailed bats, and several other caves also contain also numbering in the millions. The Mexican free-tailed bat holds another record: the largest concentrations of any mammal. The Mexican free-tailed bat may be may be the fastest flier in the animal kingdom over sustained distances. This distinguishes them from other known speedsters like the peregrine falcon, a bird clocked at 180miles per hour but only in a dive. Most astonishing, the bats achieve this speed through wing power, not by utilizing wind or by diving. A paper published by University of Tennessee researchers found that the Mexican free-tailed bat could reach speeds up to 100 mph, making it by far the fastest mammal on earth. Mexican Free-tailed Bat: World’s Fastest Mammal A Mexican free-tailed bat being held at Bracken Bat Cave, San Antonio, Texas.Bat Conservation International considers it one of its highest conservation priorities, and is working with local organizations to protect roosts. The flying foxes are also overhunted for their meat. Unfortunately, many of their roosts have been logged. These are impressive spectacles for a naturalist, but they also make flying foxes vulnerable. Like many flying foxes, the giant golden-crowned gathers in impressive roosts in trees. ![]() ![]() This species lives in the Philippines and largely feeds on fruit, using its large eyes to navigate at night (in contrast to the echolocation used by many insectivorous bats). But a quick look reveals they resemble a child’s plush toy more than a vampire. Such a huge bat might, for some, be the stuff of horror movies. The giant golden-crowned flying fox represents the other extreme in bat size: this species can reach 3 pounds with an impressive 5.5-foot wingspan. Giant Golden-crowned Flying Fox: The Largest Giant golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus) in the Philippines.
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