According to Mrs. Rutkowski, these three bats (Wahlberg's epauleted bat, the Honduran white, and the gray-headed flying fox) are good examples of megabats (UPDATE: it turns out that the Honduran white is NOT a megabat. But I'll leave it here to the comments make sense).What's a megabat? The name itself can be a bit misleading, as the smallest of this group is only about 2.4 inches long. In general, they're fruit eaters and nectar lickers. They don't use echolocation (except for an Egyptian species). This is all in contrast to microbats, who tend to use echolocation and eat insects.
Of course, no where in the line up is the draculabat. I think we may have a certain Transylvanian editing Wikipedia for his own purposes.
I love bats. I've always wanted to have a pet bat...
ReplyDeleteThe honduran white bats aren't ugly at all, they're adorable! That's why I never submitted the pics I have in my PC.
ReplyDeleteI recently had a conversation at a party about bats being adorable. No one agreed with me, but I stuck to my guns.
ReplyDeleteHonduran White Bat is actually a microbat, like all New World Bats. That "leaf" on the nose is a dead giveaway that they are echolocators.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Bat Conservation International www.batcon.org for all sorts of cool info on bats and how important they are to the world's various ecosystems. I'm a proud member and I love bats.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Dangit! I was wondering about the Honduran white. Mrs. Rutkowski lied to me!
ReplyDeleteI hate it when someone gives me a bit piece of fruit to eat and then takes my picture...
ReplyDeleteSylvia, that's exactly why I've stopped eating my fruit whole.
ReplyDelete