The UN Environment Program (UNEP) has declared 2011 the “Year of the Bat“to raise awareness about the importance ofworld’s only flying mammal. During the next 12 months, conservation, research and education on this animal, one of the most misunderstood and persecuted in the world according to UNEP, will be promoted.
1. There is more of1.100 different bats, weighing between 1.5 grams of the tiny Philippine bumblebee bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) and the 1.2 kilograms of the golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus).
2. Their limbs have the same types of bones as humans, with the only difference that those of the hand are proportionally longer and are covered by a membrane that extends to the legs, called “patagio”. In fact, they are calledchiroptera, what does it mean“wings in the hands”.
3. Bats emithigh frequency ultrasound, inaudible for the human being, to orient itself during the flight and to hunt. As Australian scientists recently demonstrated, these sounds havedifferent “accents” according to the speciesconcerned.
4. A recent study from the University of Ontario in Canada has shown thatbats have no problem flying “intoxicated”, after consuming nectar and fermented fruits. In experiments with bats in northern Belize that gave a blood alcohol level greater than 0.3% in a breathalyzer test, scientists found that they continue to fly with the same dexterity, which shows their tolerance to alcohol.
5. Desmodus rotundus, thecommon vampire, It is a hematophagous species, that is, it eats blood. The highly specialized and sharp teeth are used to make sharp and fast cuts. And saliva contains anticoagulants so blood can flow out of the wound easily.
6. Bats in urban areas can consume almost14,000 kilos of insects in a single night.
7. Biodiversity conservation is also indebted to bats. In their movements they carry with them all kinds of seeds that contribute to the extension of forests in the middle and tropical latitudes, as well as to pollination. They candisperse more than 30,000 small seeds in one night.
8. Researchers at the universities of Leeds and Southampton, in England, and Strathclyde, in Scotland, are studying how bats use sound to locate objects and hope to apply it to createmedical ultrasound systemsmore sensitive, develop new techniques for oil exploration and manufactureimplants for deaf people.
9. Scientists from the University of North Carolina (USA) have createdRobo-Bat, a robot-bat that perfectly imitates the flight of these animals and whose skeleton weighs just 6 grams.
