Latest Megabats Stories
'This study conducted during the International Year of the Bat offers a clear example of how the evolution of new traits, in this case a skull with a new shape, allowed animals to use new resources and eventually, to rapidly evolve into many new species' A new study involving bat skulls, bite force measurements and scat samples collected by an international team of evolutionary biologists is helping to solve a nagging question of evolution: Why some groups of animals develop scores of...
A new study reveals that the way fruit bats use biosonar to 'see' their surroundings is significantly more advanced than first thought. The study, published September 13 in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology, examines Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus), which use echolocation to orient inside their caves and to find fruit hidden in the branches of trees. Their high-frequency clicks form a sonar beam that spreads across a fan-shaped area, and the returning echoes allow them...
Israeli scientists fitted fruit bats with the world's smallest GPS devicesGPS technology can make our travels easier and more efficient. But for many animals, the ability to successfully navigate a landscape is not just a matter of convenience "“ their very survival depends on it.Egyptian fruit bats, for instance, fly dozens of kilometers each night to feed on specific fruit trees, making the return trip the same night. To understand how the bats locate individual trees night after night,...
BROOMFIELD, Colo., March 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are reiterating the need to "fill half our plates with fruits and vegetables at every meal and snack" while National Nutrition Month (March) urges Americans to "eat right with color." Fruit2day is taking the recommendations to heart by creating two new offerings of real premium fruit juice blends tailored for the morning occasion and the summer season. The brand also is launching a new ad campaign...
The U.N. launched the "year of the bat" Wednesday, hoping that putting the mammal in the public spotlight might help people gain a better understanding of the role the animal plays in pollination and dispersal of seeds. "From insect-eating bats in Europe that provide important pest control to seed-dispersing bats in the tropics that help sustain rainforests, bats deliver vital ecosystem services across a wide range of environments," the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)...
New research conducted at the University of Maryland's bat lab shows Egyptian fruit bats find a target by NOT aiming their guiding sonar directly at it. Instead, they alternately point the sound beam to either side of the target. The new findings by researchers from Maryland and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel suggest that this strategy optimizes the bats' ability to pinpoint the location of a target, but also makes it harder for them to detect a target in the first place."We...
Hendra has given bats a bad name. Understandable given Hendra virus has killed people and horses, and scientists have discovered that Hendra virus is carried by bats. But it's not all the bats' fault."Flying-foxes or fruit bats are large, very mobile animals that can fly long distances, possibly 100s of kilometers overnight. They are also very social animals, and roost during the day in large communal groups. We are very aware of them because they are so visible at dawn and dusk when we see...
The Wildlife Trust says the world's largest species of fruit bat, Pteropus vampyrus, could become extinct in Peninsular Malaysia at the current hunting rate. Jonathan Epstein, associate vice president of the U.S.-headquartered organization, said approximately 22,000 fruit bats, also called flying foxes, are legally hunted annually in Peninsular Malaysia, also known as West Malaysia, in addition to those illegally hunted. That, he said, is a level of hunting that's unsustainable based on...
A U.S.-led study has documented for the first time how bats land and the scientists discovered that not all bats land in the same manner. The Brown University-led researchers said their findings offer new insights into how the Earth's second-largest order of mammals evolved. Daniel Riskin, lead author of the study, said the scientists studied the landing approaches of three species of bats -- two that live in caves and one that roosts in trees. The team filmed each species of bat as it...
A Brown University-led research team has documented for the first time how bats land. The results are surprising: Not all bats land the same way. The findings, which appear in the Journal of Experimental Biology, could offer new insights into how the second-largest order of mammals evolved.People have always been fascinated by bats, but the scope of that interest generally is limited to how bats fly and their bizarre habit of sleeping upside down. Until now, no one had studied how bats arrive...
Latest Megabats Reference Libraries
Franquet's epauletted fruit bat (Epomops franqueti) is a megabat that is native to Africa. Its range extends from Angola and Zambia in the south to Sudan and the Ivory Coast. This range includes Angola, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda, among other areas. It is thought that these bats may appear in Zambia as well. It prefers a habitat within tropical and subtropical mangrove, arid, and moist forests as well as in swamps and arid savannahs. Franquet’s epauletted...
The Gambian epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus gambianus) is a species of megabat that can be found in many areas including Benin, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coats, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Senegal, with most areas of its range occurring in Africa. It can reside in many habitats including tropical or subtropical forests, as well as arid or moist savannahs. It will roost in tree hollows, dense foliage, and roots along the banks of rivers either in small groups or alone. The...
The greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx), also known as the short-nosed Indian fruit bat, is a megabat that is native to southeastern and southern areas of Asia. Its range includes Pakistan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, China, and Cambodia, among other areas. It prefers to reside in tropical habitats, where humans grow fruit as crops, but it will live in mangrove forests and grasslands. Like the lesser short-nosed fruit bat, this bat can be found roosting in palm fronds, which...
The lesser short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis) is a megabat that is native to South and Southeastern Asia, as well as Indonesia. Its range includes southwest and northwest India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, southern Burma, southern China, the Philippines, and Thailand, among many other areas including islands. This bat holds nine subspecies that occur in different areas throughout its range. The lesser short-nosed fruit bat is typically tawny to brown in color, with brighter neck fur....
The wrinkle-faced bat (Centurio senex) is the only species known in the genus Centurio. It can be found in many areas around and within Central America. Although this bat does eat fruit, it is not classified as a fruit bat, and even though it lacks a leaf nose, it is considered a leaf-nosed bat. Its scientific name derives from the Greek word, Centurios, which means “divisions into hundreds” and Senex, which refers to elderly people. This bat holds two recognized subspecies. The...
