Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera, characterized by forelimbs modified into membranous wings (patagia) enabling powered flight, elongated digits supporting the wing membrane, and a highly specialized shoulder girdle and pectoral musculature. They exhibit diverse echolocation systems (in most microchiropterans) employing high-frequency vocalizations and specialized auditory adaptations for prey detection and navigation. Chiroptera comprise two major clades, traditionally termed Megachiroptera (fruit bats or flying foxes) and Microchiroptera, though molecular phylogenetics now recognizes Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera. Bats occupy a wide range of trophic niches, including insectivory, frugivory, nectarivory, carnivory, and hematophagy, and show complex roosting, reproductive, and social behaviors.
The urban monkeys in New Delhi are so bold they'll steal the lunch right off your plate. If you've spent time in New York, you've probably seen squirrels try to do the same. Sydney's white ibises got the nickname "bin chickens" ...
Ecology
Apr 8, 2026
0
9
Accents are usually thought of as a human trait, indicating where a person has grown up or the communities they belong—and new research shows the same dialects can also occur in Australia's largest carnivorous bat.
Plants & Animals
Apr 1, 2026
0
10
A research team led by the Museum für Naturkunde presents the first evidence that several bat species produce courtship songs in the immediate rotor-swept zone of wind turbines while circling around the nacelle. Data from ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 23, 2026
0
512
Scientists have discovered mosquitoes can act like tiny "flying wildlife surveyors," helping researchers detect elusive and endangered animals in Australia's national parks. A team from Macquarie University and the Department ...
Ecology
Mar 19, 2026
0
17
A humpback whale alters the pitch of its song when joined by a neighboring singer, a finding that opens a new chapter in the ongoing effort to understand whale song, some of the most structurally and acoustically complex ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 16, 2026
0
17
From whale songs to lion roars, animals have evolved to stretch their voices across distances so that friends—and sometimes foes—can hear them. Each sound is coded with messages like "Come here!" "Back off!" "Danger's lurking!" ...
Evolution
Mar 10, 2026
0
16
Deep into the Panamanian night, the forest hums with sound. Chirping insects form a steady backdrop, rain softly trickles from leaves. Somewhere above a stream, frogs call into the darkness. But I am not there to see this ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
0
21
At newly colonized high-elevation sites in the central Italian Apennines, female Daubenton's bats take turns using the same hunting spots instead of feeding side by side. A study published by a research team from the University ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 27, 2026
0
26
Millions of bats in North America have died from white-nose syndrome, and a new study from the University of Waterloo explores why and how the fungal disease has devastated bat populations on this continent, while it has ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 12, 2026
0
37
Mexican long-nosed bats have a taste for agave, their tongues designed to lap up the famous desert plant's nectar during nightly flights. It's not just a means of satisfying taste buds. It's a matter of fueling up for an ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2026
0
48
