Features of the structure of bats. What are bats? Social behavior and lifestyle

A bat is a mammal that belongs to placental mammals, a species of bats, is rightfully considered the most mysterious animal. On the one hand, the bat is the only mammal that can move through the air; on the basis of this ability, they claimed that it was a bird. But, on the other hand, they are viviparous, they feed their young with milk, which birds do not do.

The nocturnal lifestyle of these animals and their frightening appearance have created many legends around them, and some are absolutely convinced that the little animals sleeping upside down in secluded places are real vampires who prey on people and animals to drink their blood. Not everything in these legends is fiction.

The very name "bat" appeared in Russian only at the beginning of the 17th century, thanks to the translation of a German book. This literary variant took root, and that is how the animals of the chiroptera order began to be called.

In Russia, there were other names: bat, kozhan, evening, nocturnal, horseshoe, long-eared, arrow-eared, pipe-nosed and others. All reflect the external sign of these mammals or the peculiarities of their lifestyle.

The same is observed in the modern name. Animals that have no kinship with the order of rodents are very reminiscent of them in appearance. Yes, and the sound of a bat is similar to the squeak of rodents, and the ability to fly adds a definition that has become the name of the order of bats.

What do bats look like?

It is believed that every fourth mammal on earth belongs to the chiroptera order. Despite the species differences, they all have common external features.

Wings

The main distinguishing feature of these animals are wings. It was because of the presence that the disputes continued for a long time: the bat is still a bird or an animal.

The wings are thin membranes that are stretched between the front and rear limbs. Unlike birds, bats do not have feathers, and the membranes are attached to the very long fingers of the forelimbs.

The wingspan, depending on the species, can vary from 16 cm to 1.5 m. Despite the apparent fragility, they are able to withstand significant loads and reach a flight speed of up to 20 km / h.

Flight is not the only purpose of wings. During sleep, bats wrap themselves in them, and thus their warmth is preserved.

Bat Skeleton

The body of animals is relatively small: the spine is much shorter than the modified forelimbs with five fingers with sharp claws. The animal does not have strong limbs, the humerus is shortened, so its movement on the ground is minimal, the main thing for them is flight.

The skull is rounded, with a short anterior part in some species and an elongated one in others. If you look at bats, then the calf is practically invisible. It seems that they consist of a head and wings.

Animals have a tail that is not covered with hair. For most, it serves as a device for maneuvering during flight.

Ears

Ears play an important role in the life of an animal that does not have sharp eyesight. In almost all species, they are huge.

Numerous networks of blood vessels feed the ears, since their participation in the life of bats provides them with the ability to move and hunt.

Animals make subtle sounds, which, starting from objects, return. This method of orientation in the world is called echolocation. The ability to catch even the quietest sounds with lightning speed helps bats fly at night, hear the movement of potential prey.

Violations in the work of the hearing organs most often leads to the death of the animal.

Eyes

Bats are nocturnal, which in the process of evolution has affected their vision. Small eyes in almost all species are located in front of the muzzle.

The animals of this detachment see everything in black and white. Since the bat sleeps during the day in shelters, its eyes react very poorly to sunlight.

But even for these animals there are exceptions. Thus, the California leaf-bearer sometimes relies more on sight than on hearing during hunting.

If a bat lives like a pet, then you have noticed that it rarely flies into a room in which the light is on, and to catch it, it is enough to turn on the light bulb, and the animal immediately stops flying.

Teeth

Absolutely all chiropterans have teeth: incisors, molars and premolars, canines can be observed in the jaw. But their number, size and structure depends solely on what bats eat in their natural environment.

Those bats whose diet consists of insects have up to 38 teeth, and the length of their fangs can also be different. Bloodsucking mice typically have 20 teeth in their jaws and are not as large or as developed as their insectivorous counterparts.

The shape of the teeth is adapted to what bats eat in nature. So in insectivorous animals, the teeth resemble mortars that grind coarse food. But only those who feed on blood have long fangs.

Wool

Most species of bats have a soft color: brown, gray, dark gray. This is due to the need to remain unnoticed during night hunting. But even among these animals there are real fashionistas: the Mexican fish-eating species has bright orange or yellow fur. There are bats in shades of which there are light colors: fawn, light yellow.

The Honduran white bat boasts a white coat and bright yellow ears and nose.

The quality of the coating may also vary. There are animals with thick and sparse fur, long and short pile.

Bat species (insectivorous and herbivorous)

The study of the life of bats is complicated by their secrecy, but scientists managed to establish that at the moment about 700 species of these animals have been recorded. We will talk about some of them in more detail.

The habitat of representatives of this species is almost all countries of Eurasia. You can meet it on the territory of Russia, from southern Siberia to the western borders. They live in mountain ranges, and in forests, and in the steppes. Some animals of this species easily inhabit even the attics of houses in large cities.

The body length of these bats is up to 6.5 cm, and the wingspan is 33 cm. At the same time, they weigh up to 23 grams. Such dimensions allow us to say that the two-color leather is a fairly large bat.

The original color of the animal determined its name: the ears, muzzle and wings are almost black, the back is dark brown, and the abdomen is light gray or white.

Bicolor leathers feed on nocturnal insects.

These bats live in the European part. The giant evening bat is the largest bat living in Russia. Its body length reaches 11 cm, weight - 70-80 grams, and wingspan - 45-50 cm.

The animal does not have a bright color: usually they are brown or reddish-brown, the abdomen is noticeably lighter than the back. But it is quite difficult not to notice the flight of these creatures, since their size is impressive.

Observing the life of the evening, it was established that these bats eat large insects. In Russia they prefer beetles and butterflies.

They usually nest in hollow trees. Since low temperatures are possible in habitats, during the cold season, the animals migrate, choosing warmer regions.

The white bat got its name for its original appearance: their coat is white with slight gray patches on the abdomen. But the nose and ears of representatives of this species are bright yellow, and their shape resembles leaves. It seems that the animal has stuck autumn leaves to itself.

This is one of the small representatives of bats: the body size is no more than 4-5 cm, and the weight is only 7 grams. It is so small that sometimes it seems that it is a bird.

This white miracle lives in South and Central America, Honduras, Panama. For life, they choose evergreen forests, where they always find food for themselves - ficuses and fruits.

The original appearance of the animal attracts attention, so the bat at home is becoming more common.

Representatives of this species are rightfully considered the smallest: their weight does not exceed 2 grams, the body length is 3-5 cm. Sometimes they are confused with bumblebees.

They got their name for the original nose, reminiscent of a pig's snout. The usual color is dark brown, sometimes grayish brown. The coat on the abdomen has a lighter shade.

Pig-nosed bats live in southwestern Thailand and on some nearby islands. In other places, they are not common, therefore they are rightfully considered endemic to this area.

A feature of these animals is their joint hunting: they usually gather in small flocks and fly out together in search of small insects.

Small bats are difficult to see with the naked eye, so it is very difficult to observe their life.

The limited habitat has made the population of these animals extremely small. Currently, this species is listed in the Red Book.

These animals live in the territory from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, as well as in the Bahamas and Antilles.

The big harelip is a large bat: its weight sometimes reaches 80 grams, the body size is up to 13.5 cm.

The animals have an interesting color feature: males are bright red, sometimes even fiery red, but females are very faded, grayish brown.

These bats got their second name - the fish-eating bat - because of their eating habits. Animals prefer to live near water bodies. Scientists have found that the harelip eats not only insects, like many bats, but also small fish, small crayfish and frogs.

By the way, unlike many members of their detachment, they can fly out to hunt during the day.

The life of representatives of this species was described in detail by the French scientist Dobanton. It was in honor of him that these animals received their second name - Dobanton's bats.

Relatively small animals (weight up to 15 grams, wingspan - no more than 27 cm, and body length - 5.5 cm) prefer to hunt near water bodies, preferring mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects for food.

Small-sized bats have a fairly wide habitat: in Russia they can be found in the lower reaches of the Volga, in the Ussuri Territory, on Sakhalin, Kamchatka, in the Primorsky Territory; they also live in other countries: in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Mongolia, Italy.

Inconspicuous in appearance (usually their fur is dark brown), they are excellent hunters, destroying entire hordes of insects.

Reducing the population of water bats contributes to the spread of livestock diseases transmitted through insect bites.

The most noticeable part of these bats are their huge ears. With a weight of no more than 12 grams and a body size of 5 cm, the ears are sometimes larger than the body. But they cannot boast of the original coloring: their gray-brown fur is very plain.

Earflaps are found in almost all countries of Eurasia, in northern Africa, in China.

For their dwellings, they adapt almost any place: caves, buildings, trees. Most often they fly away to warmer regions for the winter, but always return to their old homes.

Huge ears allow her to hunt even in complete darkness.

It is rightfully considered the smallest representative of the order of bats living in Europe. Its body is up to 4 cm long and weighs 6 g. Representatives of this species have a fairly long tail - up to 3.5 cm.

The color of the animal depends on the region of habitat: in animals living in Asia, it is pale, grayish; European brown.

Bats settle near human habitation, often choosing attics of houses and sheds.

Representatives of this species prefer small insects for food, which helps a lot, exterminating thousands of mosquitoes and midges.

Bat species (bloodsucking)

Observing representatives of the order of bats, they found out that in the wild the bat eats not only insects and plants. Among these animals there are also those that feed on blood.

A very numerous species spread the opinion about bats as vampires capable of drinking all the blood from an animal or a person. Another name is a big bloodsucker. The enzyme contained in the saliva of these animals can be quite dangerous: it affects blood clotting. Even a minor wound can cause major blood loss. And if several dozen bloodsuckers attack during the night, then death is inevitable.

This is not a very large bat (weight no more than 50 grams, and a wingspan of up to 20 cm) spends the whole day sleeping upside down in its shelter in a large company of brothers, and after dark it flies out to hunt. She chooses her victim among sleeping animals, she especially prefers cattle - they cannot resist. Choosing a place on the body near the vessels, the animal bites and licks the blood, which easily flows out of the wound.

A person can also be attacked by ordinary vampires if they spend the night in places accessible for visiting by these bats.

The habitat of this species is South and Central America.

The representative of this species has average dimensions for bats: body length - up to 11 cm, weight - up to 40 grams, and wingspan - up to 40 cm.

Like an ordinary vampire, the white-winged one lives in South and Central America. Its coat has a reddish-brown hue, somewhat light on the abdomen.

The white-winged vampire attacks birds, it is their blood that is the diet of the animal.

It lives in the same places as its blood-feeding counterparts. But representatives of this species can easily attack both birds and animals.

Unlike other bats, the ruffed vampire does not have a well-developed hearing, so in its flights it relies not so much on the usual echolocation as on vision.

Their grayish-brown coloration and small size allow them to sneak up on their victims unnoticed.

Many researchers have noted that hairy-legged vampires are absolutely not afraid of people: they can fly up very close, practically sit on their hands.

Bats are very often frightened, calling them blood-sucking and dangerous, but of all the variety of species, only three actually drink blood.

Where do bats live?

If we talk about the territories where bats live, then we must list the entire planet. The only exceptions are tundra regions and lands covered with ice. In these natural conditions, the life of bats is impossible. There are no these animals on some remote islands, because they simply could not get there.

The bat is a rare mammal that can exist in almost any place where there is at least some possibility of hiding during the daytime.

In all other corners of the globe you can meet representatives of this detachment. Even in large cities, in the attics of high-rise buildings, bats find shelter for themselves.

The bat in nature prefers to settle in caves, where, clinging to ledges, they sleep during the daytime, and at dusk they fly out to hunt. There are caves in which thousands of colonies of bats live. Sometimes the height of the excrement layer in them reaches a meter, which indicates the number of animals and the length of stay in this place.

Where there is no natural shelter, these animals are placed on the trees, hiding between the branches. Sometimes they occupy abandoned hollows, can build themselves shelters from large leaves, gnaw through bamboo trunks, and even settle down between the fruits of plants. The main requirements for their house, where the bat sleeps all day, are safety and the absence of direct sunlight.

These animals are not afraid of people at all, therefore they are quietly placed in the attics of houses, sheds, in livestock rooms.

Sometimes people, not knowing what bats eat in nature, believe that they can be dangerous to humans and domestic animals. Therefore, having found these animals in their attic or in the barn, they try to exterminate them. Most bats eat insects and are therefore completely harmless.

Bats most often live in colonies, which can number several tens of thousands of individuals. Some species huddle together during daytime rest, others prefer to hang upside down in splendid isolation.

A record number of individuals in one colony was counted in Brazil. In one place there was a refuge for 20 million individuals.

Living together does not make these animals flocking, since they do not produce any joint actions: they hunt exclusively alone.

Do not create bats and families. Uniting only at the moment of mating, they immediately forget about each other.

In regions where there are cold seasons, animals can hibernate, which lasts up to 8 months. At this time, bats wrap themselves in their wings, attach themselves upside down in some secluded place and sleep without eating.

Some species are capable of seasonal migrations. With the onset of cold weather, they fly to warmer regions. Sometimes during this period, bats cover distances of up to 1000 kilometers.

If natural conditions allow, the animals remain active all year round.

How long do bats live?

An interesting question remains: how many years do bats live in nature. Average life expectancy is 5 years. How long bats live depends on the species. Among these animals there are also centenarians, whose age can reach up to 20 years.

The age of the longest-lived record holder among bats is 33 years.

A bat at home usually lives less than the time allotted to it by nature, since it does not have the opportunity to be fully active.

How do bats reproduce?

Reproduction of bats has its own characteristics. Some species living in warm climatic zones give birth to cubs twice a year. The mating period does not matter to them. The secret way of life of bats does not allow us to accurately imagine how the process of courtship of a male for a female goes.

Males of some species make a variety of sounds before mating. Perhaps with this song they attract the female or tell her about their intentions.

Those animals that live in temperate latitudes bring offspring only once. Mating usually occurs in the fall, before the moment when the animals go into hibernation. But the spermatozoa that have entered the body of the female do not immediately fertilize the egg, but may be in some reservation until the moment of awakening.

After hibernation, pregnancy occurs, the duration of which depends both on the type and on the ambient temperature: at low temperatures, the baby develops longer.

Usually females give birth to one cub, less often two or three. During childbirth, the mouse turns upside down. The calf is born feet first, which is extremely rare in mammals, and immediately enters the tail bag, where it spends a week. After the babies, they hide in shelters and feed with milk. It was this ability of bats that decided the dispute: is a bat a mammal or not, in favor of classifying them as mammals.

In the first week, the female takes her cub with her for night hunting. He clings tightly to his mother during the flight. But after a while, she is forced to leave him in a shelter, because the baby becomes heavy, and it is not possible to fly with him for a long time.

The unique sense of smell allows these animals to find their cubs after night flights. They smell the baby at a distance of several kilometers.

Within a week, and sometimes two, the babies remain completely helpless, and only after a month they begin to hunt on their own near their shelter, without moving far from it.

What does a bat eat and how does it hunt in the wild?

Almost all bats fly out to hunt at dusk or after sunset. The thing is that their vision is developed much worse than their hearing. Most bats feed on flying insects. They hear their movements and pick up prey on the fly or find it among the foliage.

There are animals that feast exclusively on the nectar of flowers and the fruits of fruit trees.

Some large species also eat earthworms, as well as large insects.

Among the bats there is a bat, whose diet includes frogs and small fish, in addition to insects. The animals fly above the surface of the water and determine by the splash where potential prey is located.

But there are only three blood-sucking species, and they live in South and Central America. They fly out to hunt at night, find animals, bite and lick the blood.

Enemies of bats

Bats do not have many enemies in nature, although the animals are very small. This is most likely due to the fact that the nocturnal lifestyle does not give them the opportunity to intersect in nature with many animals that are active during the day. They camouflage their shelters well or live in large colonies, where it can be quite scary for many animals and birds to penetrate.

Those bats that fly out to hunt at dusk (for example, evenings) more often become the prey of daytime birds of prey (hawks, hobby falcons, peregrine falcons), who happily feed on these bats.

But nocturnal birds of prey (owls and owls) quite often attack bats, although it is very difficult to hunt them: advanced echolocation allows you to notice danger and dodge deadly claws and beaks.

Scientists from one of the American institutes noticed an interesting fact: bats living in the caves of one of the mountain ranges of Hungary are attacked by ordinary tits. Brave birds fly into caves, grab a sleeping animal and take it to their nest. Birds rarely fly up to colonies, since the number of bats can be a mortal danger for them.

In those latitudes where many tree snakes live, bats hiding in the branches have a hard time. During the day, the animals, as a rule, sleep in shelters and are far from always able to react to an approaching creeping enemy. And they practically cannot fly in sunlight, so they become victims of those snakes who can eat small bats.

Bats, especially small individuals and species, often fall into the paws of spiders. They cannot see the stretched web in the dark; in this case, echolocation does not always help either. But bats get to hear the insect beating in the web. Sometimes large spiders that feed on small animals do not specifically kill insect prey in order to catch a larger one - a bat.

Sometimes bats become food for larger predators - weasels, polecats and martens, which sneak up on sleeping animals and kill them.

But the main enemy is man. Sometimes people destroy entire colonies of bats just because they mistakenly consider them dangerous. Although the animals bring many benefits, destroying insects that carry the infection.

It happens that a person does not have as his goal to kill bats. Some fertilizers or pesticides are harmful to flying animals.

It seems incredible that people also eat bats for food. In many Asian countries, the meat of these animals is considered a delicacy.

What are the benefits of bats

In nature, bats do more good than harm. There are only a few blood-sucking species, so it is impossible to say that it is bats that carry diseases.

But they destroy insects that, flying from one animal to another, are capable of spreading infections. During the season, the animals eat a huge number of mosquitoes, beetles and butterflies, many of which, for example, in tropical countries, really carry deadly diseases.

They protect chiropteran orchards and agricultural land from pests that can destroy crops or damage trees and shrubs.

Flying from plant to plant, they help pollinate them.

Bat droppings are an excellent fertilizer. In some caves where colonies of animals live, up to a meter of excrement can accumulate.

Bat saliva enzymes are used in medicine.

Recently, people are increasingly getting as pets not only dogs and cats, but also some exotic animals, among which there is also a bat. At home, these animals take root, but they do not feel as comfortable as in natural conditions. If you still want to keep a bat at home, then try to provide her with a life as close to nature as possible.

First of all, keep in mind that bats are exclusively nocturnal. If you plan to watch her during the day, then you will have to admire the sleeping animal. But at night, your pet will want to fly, which can cause a lot of inconvenience.

pet house

Despite its small size, a bat at home needs a very spacious enclosure where the pet will be able to fly. It is necessary to equip the house with branches, shelters, so that the animal has the opportunity to hide during the daytime rest.

The vital functions of bats directly depend on the ambient temperature, therefore, in the room where the pet lives, it should be approximately 30 degrees, which is quite a lot for a comfortable stay of a person.

A bird cage is not always suitable for keeping bats, since the distance between the twigs is sufficient so that one fine night you can find that the animal flies over your heads and enjoys feasting on insects.

In the natural environment, most bats prefer insects, which they themselves perfectly catch by making night flights. By the way, at home they should be fed in the evening, once a day.

A bat at home does not have the ability to feed itself, so the pet's diet should be as close to natural as possible. But this does not mean at all that the owners of unusual pets should catch mosquitoes all evenings and bring them to their pet in a jar. What should you feed a small bat if it lives at home?

The following diet is suitable for bats:

• flour worms;
• insect pupae;
• adult cockroaches;
• raw egg yolk;
• natural honey;
• milk formulas for feeding children up to a month.

Feeding a pet is not so easy: you can add raw yolk, a little honey and vitamin E to the milk mixture. You need to take the animal in your hands and offer it the mixture through a pipette. Keeping the leftover mixture in the refrigerator is not recommended.

Insects suitable for food are usually stored in jars, but for a short time. A tame bat will gladly accept food, but it is not very easy to train it to eat from your hands. It is possible that at first she will refuse food.

Knowing what voracious bats actually eat at home, remember that animals can eat up to half their weight at a time, which, with little activity, can be dangerous to their health. Don't overfeed them.

Interesting facts about bats

• The opinion is firmly entrenched that bats are vampires that fly out to hunt at night and drink the blood of their victims. This judgment greatly exaggerates the idea of ​​an animal, but not unreasonably. There were practically no cases of bat attacks on people, but in Central and South America there are species that cling to large animals that are not able to resist, and drink their blood.
• Despite what bats eat in the wild and at home, there are no fat animals among them. It's all about good metabolism. They are able to digest all the food they eat in half an hour, although some species are able to catch and eat up to 60 insects in an hour of their hunting.
• Scientists have found that the enzyme contained in the saliva of bats can help people suffering from heart disease. Once in the human blood, this enzyme prevents seizures, and with prolonged use completely cure the heart. Serious research is currently underway in this area.
• Remembering interesting facts about bats, many will note the ability to sleep upside down. None of the representatives of the animal world rests like that. The fact is that this position allows bats to rest and relax the muscles involved in the flight. It also allows you to save energy during takeoff: the animal simply releases the claws with which it was held, falls down and takes off in a maneuver. The lower limbs are completely unsuitable for running and pushing.
• An amazing discovery is made: on the island of Borneo, there is a carnivorous plant that lures bats with special sounds. But he does not eat them at all, but provides his inflorescences as a refuge. In return, bats leave their excrement to the hospitable host, which is very necessary fertilizer for the plant. Such a symbiosis in nature is unique.
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They fly, but not birds or insects. Outwardly, they are very similar to mice, but not rodents. Who are these amazing animals that are a mystery of nature? Fruit bats, kalongs, pokovonos, red evenings - all these are bats, the list of which includes approximately 1000 species.

Unusual representatives of mammals

The features of bats primarily lie in their ability to fly. This becomes possible due to the special structure of the upper limbs. But they are not turned into wings at all. The thing is that along the entire body from the last phalanx of the second finger to the tail there is a fold of skin. It forms a kind of wing. Order Chiroptera has another similarity with birds. Both have a special outgrowth of the sternum - the keel. It is to it that the muscles that set the wings in motion are attached.

Order Chiroptera

These animals are nocturnal. During the day they sleep, and at dusk they fly out of their shelters to hunt. Their habitats are caves, mines, hollows of old trees, attics of houses. Chiroptera mammals have all the characteristic features of this class. They feed their young with milk, have hair, epidermal formations - claws, and their skin contains numerous glands: sebaceous, sweat and milk. Bats see very poorly. This is a characteristic feature for animals leading a nocturnal lifestyle. But it compensates for this, which is more important in complete darkness. In order to navigate in such conditions, bats have additional adaptations.

What is echolocation?

Chiroptera mammals, or rather most of them, are capable of emitting high frequencies. Other living organisms cannot perceive them. Such signals are reflected from surfaces encountered along the path of the animal. So chiroptera mammals easily orient themselves in complete darkness and move freely in such conditions. This ability also allows them to hunt prey in the air. In order to catch sound signals even better, all animals of this order have characteristic, well-developed auricles.

real vampires

There are many terrible legends about winged mammals. Like, they all attack people at night, feeding on their blood. However, all these rumors are greatly exaggerated. For example, bulldogs hunt insects at high altitudes. And many species of fruit bats feed on sweet fruits, causing significant damage to agriculture and horticulture.

But in South and Central Africa, real vampires really live. Their feature is the presence of pointed edges of the upper incisors. They act like a razor. With them, vampires cut the surface of the skin of animals or humans and lick the blood from this place. Such a wound can be very dangerous. The thing is that the saliva of vampires contains a substance that prevents blood clotting. The victim does not always feel the bite, because the secretions also contain painkillers. Very often the wound becomes very inflamed. Such tropical vampires can also be carriers of dangerous diseases such as rabies. Therefore, they cause great harm to animal husbandry.

Diversity of the order Chiroptera

The representatives of bats are divided into two groups: fruit bats and bats. The former prefer to live in the countries of Australia, Asia and Africa. In food, they give preference to fruits. Therefore, they do not need to hunt. In connection with this feature, their echolocation is much less developed than in other representatives of winged mammals. But this is offset by excellent vision and smell. Bats, unlike fruit bats, are mostly predators and blood-sucking animals. Echolocation helps them hunt at night. Such individuals live up to 20 years. Consider some amazing representatives of bats in more detail.

fruit bats

The value of bats in nature and human life

Representatives of animals, which are discussed in our article, bring both benefit and harm to their livelihoods. For example, in Pakistan, the flying dog is heavily hunted illegally because it has a very valuable fat. In some countries, bat dishes are a gourmet delicacy. It is known that in ancient times, the Incas decorated their clothes with the fur of these animals. Moreover, such an outfit was a sign of wealth and power. There are cases when bats ate in large quantities, thereby contributing to its growth. Chiroptera feeding on fruits contribute to their distribution. Overcoming decent distances during the day, bats and fruit bats also carry their seeds. Together with undigested food residues, they enter the soil, far from the area of ​​​​growth. All this contributes to the settlement of many plant species on the surface of the planet.

Bats occupy their important niche in the food chains of many ecosystems. They not only destroy various living components of biocenoses. Transferring dangerous infectious diseases, they are able to regulate their numbers. The negative significance of bats is also due to the fact that, eating juicy fruits, they increasingly prefer to feast on them in gardens, causing significant damage to the crop. These animals, being the basis of myths and legends about vampires, are often safer than many others. So, the order of bats is the only systematic group of the class of mammals capable of active flight due to the presence of a keel and skin folds that form wings.

Bats are the only mammals that have mastered the art of flapping flight. Their forelimbs are transformed into wings, elongated finger bones, like knitting needles, support a flying membrane stretched between the front and hind legs and tail. The front toe of the wing is free of webs and ends in a prehensile claw used in climbing. In the skeleton of bats, like birds, there is a keel to which powerful pectoral muscles are attached.

Features of the behavior of bats

Bats are a very large order, including about 1 thousand species. This includes bats and more primitive fruit bats. Bats are distributed throughout the world, especially in the tropics and subtropics. In different species, the body length ranges from 3 to 42 cm. All these animals are active at dusk or at night, and spend the day in the crowns of trees or in shelters - in the attics of houses, in hollows, caves, where they often form huge colonies. Animals living in temperate latitudes hibernate for the winter or fly to warmer regions.

Chiroptera are well adapted for long active flight. Small species of bats surpass most birds in flight maneuverability. In addition, bats deftly climb vertical surfaces, clinging to small irregularities with their claws. Bats use echolocation to navigate in the dark. They emit a series of ultrasonic squeaks and, by their reflections from objects, determine the location, size, shape, and even the smallest details of the surface. In this way, bats not only find food, but also turn in time so as not to run into an obstacle in flight.

Bat food

Chiroptera feed on insects, and some tropical species feed on tree fruits or flower nectar (a number of tropical plant species have adapted to pollination only by bats). In South
and Central America have fishing bats. Many people dislike and are afraid of bats, but most of them (especially insectivores) are of great benefit in destroying pests.
agriculture, as well as mosquitoes and mosquitoes.

Representatives of the vampire family feed mainly on the blood of warm-blooded animals (hence the name of the family). They silently descend on the body of a sleeping victim or approach it along the ground, cut through the skin with sharp forward incisors and stick to the wound. The victim usually does not feel the bite because the saliva of vampires contains painkillers. Thanks to the anticoagulant (a substance that prevents blood clotting) contained in saliva, blood continues to flow from the wound for several hours.

The vampire's tongue is designed in such a way that its lateral parts are wrapped to the bottom, forming a tube through which the animal sucks blood. During the day, the vampire drinks blood weighing half his own body. Vampires are also dangerous because they are carriers of rabies and other diseases that are dangerous to humans and domestic animals.

Reproduction of bats (bats)

Bats breed once a year. Usually the female brings 1-2 cubs, which immediately hang on her nipples located on the chest. The cub clings to the mother's nipples with milk teeth. In this position, he is all the time in the first days of life. Only the female takes care of the offspring. In some species of bats (for example, fruit bats), the female constantly carries a newborn cub
on himself until he learns to fly. Other species, during the hunt, leave their offspring in shelters, where they form groups - something like kindergartens.

Interesting facts about bats

• The vampire often attacks pets and people.
• Ushans are distinguished from other bats by their very large ears, the length of which is almost equal to the length of the body. They have excellent hearing.
• The flying dog rests, hanging on a branch upside down and fanning its wings.
• The wingspan of flying foxes reaches 170 cm, these are the largest representatives of bats belonging to the group of fruit bats. These animals do not have the ability to echolocation and in search of food are guided by smell and sight. They feed on the pulp of juicy fruits. They lead a twilight and nocturnal lifestyle, and spend the day hanging upside down on the branches of trees, and hundreds of individuals often gather on one tree.

As a progressive sign of a group - often primates - a high rate of evolution is sometimes called, but this provision needs to be categorically clarified.

Teniodonts. Above - skulls: top row (from left to right) - Onychodectes, Wortmania, Ectoganus;
middle row - Psittacotherium, Stylinodon;
bottom - Onychodectes, Stylinodon

On the successive series of Paleocene taeniodonta Taeniodonta, one can see how from a creature similar to insectivores and opossums - Onychodectes– through a dog-like beast – Wortmania- a strange monster can develop like Psittacotherium, ectoganus or Stylinodon the size of a bear. Probably, among the Paleocene animals, teniodonts had the maximum rate of evolution. At the same time, they were not considered by anyone as particularly progressive mammals.

Teniodonts can serve as a clear example of how you can quickly specialize and lose the opportunity to become a "true primate".

Another example of the fastest specialization is Chiroptera bats. Bats probably already existed in the Upper Cretaceous of South America and the Upper Paleocene of France and Germany (Gingerich, 1987; Hand et al. 1994; Hooker, 1996), and unambiguous representatives of the Lower Eocene are little different from modern ones, and were found immediately in dozens of species on all continents, including Australia.

Remarkably, the teeth of the Lower Eocene bats are almost identical to those of the primitive placental type. Cimolestes and the most ancient shrews, so that the relationship of all these groups is beyond doubt, which is unambiguously confirmed by genetic data. Despite the fact that in the genetic-cladistic schemes, bats fall into the laurasiatheria Laurasiatheria, and primates into the euarchantoglyres Euarchontoglires, the similarity of these two groups has always been obvious to all taxonomists, starting with C. Linnaeus, and was reflected in the creation of the "archon" Archonta group, uniting bats, primates, tupai and woolly wings. The similarity of the ancestors of the representatives of the "archon" was enhanced by the arboreal way of life of the ancestors of bats and coleopterans and, at least, by pre-adaptation to it in the ancestors of primates and tupai. Obviously, it is not possible to identify the immediate Lower Paleocene or Cretaceous ancestors of bats because their teeth are indistinguishable from the teeth of other primitive animals. It is possible that some Paleocene forms, known only by teeth and now considered to be primates, plesiadapis, or some kind of insectivore in the broad sense, will turn out to be primitive bats if better studied. Until bats had wings and echolocation, we consider them "insectivorous", when these specializations appear (judging by Onychonycterisfinneyi, flight arose before echolocation (Simmons et al., 2008)), we already see ready-made bats.

As in the case of birds and pterosaurs, the flapping flight of bats arose very quickly, and it is extremely difficult to capture the moment of its formation, for this you need to have incredible luck.

Chiropterans are unique in that the first stages of their evolution were characterized by maximum rates, and the subsequent stages were extremely low (more precisely, at the level of species and genus formation, the rates were high, but the body plan already at the family level remained practically unchanged from the Lower Eocene); one could even argue that macroevolution in bats ended at a time when it was just beginning in primates. Obviously, the reason for this was adaptation to flight. The already poor foundations of the structure of the brain of the first ancestors were hopelessly crushed by the need to lighten the weight; this is clearly expressed in the rapid overgrowth of the sutures of the skull, which was already characteristic of the early Eocene Icaronycterys. We are also not talking about the grasping ability of the limbs, but rather about the clinging; Lower Eocene Onychonycteris had claws on all fingers of the wing, and the rest of the synchronous relatives had already lost two or three.

True, bats have two significant advantages over insectivores: they live long, and therefore can accumulate rich life experience, and are very sociable - up to caring for hungry relatives of vampires Desmodus rotundus. But these advantages are negated by the small size of the brain - a high price to pay for the conquest of heaven. Surprisingly, for tens of millions of years, not a single bat has lost the ability to fly and has not returned to a terrestrial or arboreal lifestyle (in the fantastic fauna of the future, the inventive mind of D. Dixon dreamed of predatory terrestrial vampires walking on their front paws and grabbing their prey with their hind legs, but this infernal image, fortunately, remains purely hypothetical and remains on the conscience of its creator).

The so-called "flying primate" hypothesis, according to which Megachiroptera megachiroptera - bats - acquired the ability to fly independently of other bats - Microchiroptera microchiroptera, and also arose from the most ancient primates (Pettigrew, 1986; Pettigrew et al. ., 1989; Pettigrew et al., 2008). Many arguments were cited as evidence, the main of which was a specific type of neural connection of the retina with the upper colliculi of the quadrigemina in the midbrain - unique for primates, coleopterans and fruit bats, as well as the absence of echolocation in the vast majority of the latter, in contrast to small echolocating bats. Other evidence for the independent emergence of macro- and microchiropters has also been cited.

At a certain moment, the concept of "flying primates" almost took over, but immediately suffered a crushing defeat from geneticists, who quite convincingly proved the monophyly of bats (Mindell et al., 1991);

attempts have been made to challenge these genetic results (Hutcheon et al., 1998), but they are not accepted by most taxonomists. However, the recognition of the common origin of bats cannot reject the many amazing parallels between bats and primates. Even if these similarities have evolved convergently, they are too complex to be entirely accidental; yet this situation is a reflection of the extreme closeness of the ancestors of both orders. There are no fossil forms that would "hang" between bats and primates (the African early Miocene fruit bat is described Propottoleakeyi, whose name speaks for itself (Simpson, 1967; Walker, 1967), but this is a matter of confusion, not intermediateness) is a consequence of the rapid specialization of the former.

A lot of reasoning has been spent on clarifying the question - whether the ancestors of bats were insectivorous or fruit-eating. The teeth of the oldest known forms are "insectivorous", but the Paleocene ones could well have been more fond of the works of flora. The ongoing debate on this issue, as well as the existence of both types of diet among modern bats, is another confirmation of the fragility of the line between these two diets, no matter how different they may seem.

In general, the sequence of specializations of bats seems to be something like this: judging by the most primitive bat Onychonycteris, which did not have developed echolocation (although there is another opinion that it could have had “laryngeal echolocation” (Veselka et al., 2010)) and fed on insects, echolocation arose later than flight, and insects were the first diet; other synchronous bats are also insectivorous, but echolocating. Judging by the absence of echolocation in most fruit-eating fruit bats and its presence in some representatives of the same group (Egyptian flying dog Rousettusaegyptiacus echolocates by clicking its tongue), and also due to its preservation in frugivorous and nectarivorous microchiropters, echolocation could disappear in frugivorous forms, but not necessarily; echolocation and insectivorousness are present in Hipposideridae, horseshoe-nosed Rhinolophidae, pseudo-vampire Megadermatidae, pig-nosed Craseonycteridae, and mouse-tailed Rhinopomatidae genetically close to bats; on the other hand, insectivores repeatedly and independently switched to fruit-eating. On the other hand, all modern insectivorous forms have developed echolocation. Judging by the development of a complicated nerve connection between the retina and the quadrigemina, it was precisely in non-echolocating bats and the primitive variant in all other bats that the "primate" variant of the nervous system arose independently in bats. All these subtleties seem to be extraneous to the problem of the origin of primates, but in fact they are directly related to it.

After all, common ancestors imply that primates had a chance to develop similar adaptations.

Chiroptera - belong to the class of mammals. They are able to fly thanks to modified forelimbs and use flight as their main mode of transportation.

Bats and birds are the only representatives of chordates inhabiting the air environment. At the same time, birds are active during the day, and bats at night, which allows you to remove competition for the occupied space. There is a separate science for the study of bats chiropterology.

Chiroptera squad - bats

Squad Chiroptera general characteristics

Chiroptera are small animals, weighing from 2g (butterfly bats) to 1.5kg (flying dog). The distribution of representatives of the order Bats is associated with climate conditions, they inhabit almost all corners of the earth, they are not found in the tundra and Antarctica, and the most common habitat of bats is tropical regions. There are approximately 1200 species, which puts them in second place in size after rodents.

The order Chiroptera includes two suborders:

• Fruit bats;
• real bats.

Representatives of the groups are similar in structure and were previously combined into one suborder, but there are certain signs that distinguish them.

Real bats have a more complex structure of the outer ear, there is no claw on the second finger, most species are small in size. The eyes are small, color blind and do not play a role in orientation, unlike fruit bats. All animals of the suborder have developed echolocation, fruit bats are poorly oriented by sounds.

Features of the structure of bats

The wings of bats are a thin membrane of skin stretched between the fingers, with the exception of the first, attached to the lateral parts of the body, hind limbs and to the tail. With the help of their first finger, bats grab onto the bark of trees and ledges of rocky caves when they complete their flight. In cold weather, animals wrap their bodies with wings to keep warm.

During flight, bats actively flap their wings. The fingers move away from each other, the leathery membrane stretches, which increases the area of ​​​​the wing. Its elasticity allows it to be stretched without damage by about four times. Constant waving movements caused a significant development of the pectoral muscles. In representatives of the order Chiroptera, a keel is developed on the sternum, where the muscles are attached.

Bats can start flying not only from high-altitude points, but also take off from the ground and even from water bodies, while the flight begins with a strong upward jump.

On the head are small eyes, a wide mouth in the form of a slit, large auricles with a tragus. During daytime sleep, the tragus closes the ear canal and isolates the animal from extraneous sounds. The body is covered with dense short hairs; there are much fewer of them on the wings.

The internal structure of the skeleton of bats has its own characteristics: for efficient and maneuverable flight, they have well-developed clavicles, the ulna and fibula are not developed, and the humerus is shorter than the radius. A bone formed on the hind limbs - a spur for attaching the interfemoral membrane.

sense organs. Tactile receptors are located on leathery membranes, auricles, vision is black and white, rarely used for orientation. Hearing is very developed, they can perceive sounds in the range of 12-190000 Hz.

Bat breeding. The female is able to reproduce one or two cubs, quite large in size. Immediately after birth, they can hold on to a rough surface by clinging to ledges. When the female goes hunting, the baby remains in the cave by itself, and some species carry the cub on themselves until it can fly by itself.

Orientation of bats in space

The special signs of bats help them adapt to nocturnal life. Since animals are most active at night, they use echolocation for orientation.

Having poor eyesight, they deftly dodge obstacles on the way and get small insects. This is possible due to the perception by animals of sounds of a very high tonality - ultrasounds. When flying, they emit high-pitched sounds through their mouths or nostrils. Reflected sounds are perceived by the organs of hearing and by the nature of the sound wave, bats are able to determine what is in their way.

Impulses are emitted intermittently, it depends on the distance between the animal and the obstacle. Before the start of the flight, the number of impulses is up to 10 per second, and when it encounters an obstacle, it sharply increases to 60. With the help of echolocation, bats adjust the flight altitude, they can easily pass through dense thickets, and find their way back to the cave.

Lifestyle

Chiroptera are accustomed to living in colonies in which up to hundreds of thousands of individuals can gather. They lead a hidden lifestyle and you can rarely see them. There are real migratory species that look for warm climes for the winter, where they wait out the cold. They travel long distances, huddled in flocks, and sometimes fly with birds. Some bats hibernate in winter, settling in a cave, attic, stone gorges. Bats can go into a torpor, slowing down their metabolism and going without food for up to 8 months.

Animals sleep upside down, catching their claws on a branch. So they are protected from ground enemies.

They feed mainly on insects, some species eat fruits and fish. Indeed, there are three representatives of bats that attack animals and birds and bleed from them (American vampires). The bulk of bats are harmless, their bites do not pose a threat to humans.

Meaning of Bats

They eat insects harmful to agriculture and carriers of dangerous diseases.

Fruit-eating bats help disperse seeds over long distances.

Many tropical plants are pollinated by bats.

African peoples eat bat meat.

The danger of bats is that they can be a source of serious diseases, carrying dangerous viruses, including rabies.

Vampires that feed on blood may attack pets.

Fruit-eating bats destroy huge areas of orchards.