What are bats like? How many kinds of bats are there?

Bats are the only mammals that have evolved real flying ability, with more than 900 species. Most of them also have keen auditory localization (or echolocation) systems. Most bats feed on insects. Because bats prey on a large number of insects, they play an important role in the balance of insect reproduction and may even help control pests. Some bats also eat fruit, pollen and nectar; Vampire bats in tropical America feed on the blood of mammals and large birds. These bats sometimes spread rabies. Bats are distributed all over the world. In the tropics, bats are extremely abundant, and they will be integrated into large groups in people's houses and public buildings. Bats vary greatly in size. The largest blood-sucking flying fox has a wingspan of 1.5m, while Kitty's pig-nosed bat has a wingspan of only 15cm. Bats vary greatly in color, fur texture and facial appearance. The wings of bats evolved from forelimbs in the process of evolution. Each finger of the forelimb is extremely elongated except the thumb, and there is a flying membrane connecting the forearm and the upper arm down to the side of the body until the ankle of the lower limb. There are claws at the end of the thumb. Most bats also have two membranes between their legs, consisting of dark and bare skin. Bats have noses like rodents or foxes. The outer ear protrudes forward, usually very large and elastic. Many bats also have nasal lobes, which are composed of skin and connective tissue and flap around or above their nostrils. It is believed that the alar affects vocalization and echolocation. Bats have short necks; Broad chest and shoulders, developed chest muscles; And the hips and legs are slender. Except for the wing membrane, bats have hair all over their bodies, and their backs are gray, brown, brown or black with different shades, and their bellies are lighter in color. Bats living in open areas often have spots or mottled patches on their fur, and their colors are also different. Bats have different food habits, or prey, or help pollinate and spread fruits, thus affecting the natural order. Vampire bats are a serious problem for human beings. The excrement of insect-eating bats is used as fertilizer in agriculture. The sexual cycle of the whole bat population is synchronous, so most mating activities take place within a few weeks. The gestation period is from June to July. Many kinds of female animals will move to a special habitat after pregnancy. Bats usually give birth to 1 to 4 cubs per litter. Babies are born hairless or hairless and often cannot see or hear for a period of time. Babies are cared for by their parents for 5 weeks to 5 months, depending on different species. Almost all bats rest during the day and go out for food at night. This habit makes it easy for them to attack sleeping prey without being hurt by other animals or high temperature sunlight. Bats usually like to live in isolated places, such as caves, cracks, holes or buildings, and some live in trees and rocks. They always rest backwards. They usually gather in groups, ranging from dozens to hundreds of thousands. Bats with echolocation ability can produce short and high-frequency sound pulses, which will be reflected when they meet nearby objects. Bats can determine the location and size of prey and obstacles when they hear the reflected echoes. This skill requires a close combination of highly sensitive ears and vocal centers with auditory pathways. Individual bats can also communicate with each other in the form of sound pulses. A few bats rely on smell and vision to find food. Although they have all-purpose glue, they look like birds. But they have no feathers and don't lay eggs. They are mammals: females give birth to young and feed them with milk.

Some kinds of bats are masters of flying. They can turn around quickly in a narrow place. Bats are the only mammals that can fly with wings. Other flying mammals, like flying squirrels, just glide in the air by wing-shaped membranes!

At night, bats rely on Pippo to explore and hunt. They emit sound waves that humans cannot hear. When the sound wave meets an object, it will reflect back like an echo, so that bats can tell whether the object is moving or stationary and how far it is.

Long-eared bats prey on flying insects and can also catch insects from leaves. Its big ears enable it to receive echoes.

Mexican tailless bats fly in the twilight.

Bats eat everything; Including fruits, fish, pollen and even blood. Most bats prey on insects when flying at night, and each bat can distinguish its own sound waves, indicating that even if they prey with other bats, they will not be disturbed by other sound waves.

People often use the word "birds and beasts" to describe birds and mammals, but this statement is sometimes not necessarily correct, because some birds can't fly, such as ostriches, emus, kiwis and penguins. There are also some mammals that can't walk, such as whales living in the ocean. Bats can't walk on the ground like ordinary terrestrial mammals, but they can fly in the air like birds.

Bats are the only animals that can really fly. Although they don't have the feathers and wings like birds, and their flying ability is much worse than that of birds, their forelimbs are very developed, and their upper arms, forearms, metacarpals and phalanges are particularly long. From the end of phalanges to the humerus, sides, hind legs and tail, a thin and hairy soft and tough skin membrane is supported, forming a unique flying organ of bats-pterodactyl. There are also records about bats in ancient China, saying that they also lived in stalactite caves called fairy rats. Bats there can live forever because they can drink water from caves. After thousands of years, their body color has also changed greatly, from the initial dark color to white. I think that's why they are called fairy rats.

Bats have well-developed pectoral muscles, keel-like processes in sternum and well-developed clavicle, all of which are related to their special sports methods. It can fly well, but it needs to glide when it takes off, and it is difficult to fly again once it lands. When flying, the hind legs extend backwards to balance.

Bats generally have the habit of hibernating. During hibernation, their metabolic ability is reduced, their breathing and heartbeat are only a few times per minute, their blood flow is slowed down, and their body temperature is reduced to be consistent with the ambient temperature. However, their hibernation is not deep, and they sometimes excrete and eat during hibernation, and they can return to normal immediately after waking up. Their fertility is not high, and there is a phenomenon of "delayed fertilization", that is, fertilization does not occur during mating before hibernation, and sperm spend the winter in the female reproductive tract. After waking up in the next spring, the mating females begin to ovulate and fertilize, and then get pregnant and give birth.

Bat is an ancient and specialized branch of mammals, named after its forelimbs have special wings. It is distributed all over the world except the North and South Poles and some ocean islands, with the most species and quantities in tropical and subtropical regions. Because of their ugly appearance and nocturnal habits, they always make people feel terrible. The original meaning of their names in foreign languages is frivolous mice. But in China, because the word "bat" is homophonic with the word "fu", it can still be loved by people, and its image is painted on New Year pictures.

There are more than 900 species of bats in the world, and there are about 8/kloc-0 species in China, which is the second largest mammal group after rodents. It can be roughly divided into two categories: big bats and small bats. Bats are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the Old Hemisphere. They are large in size and primitive in body structure, including Muscidae, 1. Small bats are distributed in tropical and temperate regions of the Old Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere. They are small in size and have more specialized body structures, including more than ten families, such as Batidae, hipposideridae, Batidae, Haemophagidae and Batidae.