According to the available fossil records, bats are in existence on the earth for more than 60 million years. They are found everywhere in the world except the poles. There are different varieties of bats. Scientists have so far studied more than 2,000 kinds of bats. It is a peculiar creature which flies and yet not regarded as a bird. But why is it so?
Bats come under the category of mammals. Mammals are those animals whose females give birth to the young and suckle them. Secondly, unlike birds they don’t have feathers on their bodies but have hair. Bat is the only mammal which has wings for flying and the wings measure from 15 cms to 2 mts when spread.
Most of the bats live on insects and worms. In tropical areas they live on fruits and flowers only. There are some other kind of bats which feed on the blood of other animals and birds – they are called the vampire bats. Due to this characteristic of some bats, people fear bats in general. The teeth of vampire bats are as sharp as needles and they even attack human beings and suck their blood.
Bat has another peculiarity – while resting it hangs itself upside down with its head facing downward and its legs holding tightly the branch of the tree. The formation of its limb is such that it cannot stand erect. Another feature of bat is that it can fly at night as they produce high-pitched sounds which bounce off nearby objects and this ‘echo’ is picked up by the bat’s large ears which conveys the presence of obstacles.
The largest bat is the Flying fox with a body length of over 40 cm. Bats have, normally, a lifespan of 20 years.