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    RSPB Spotlight Bats
    RSPB Spotlight Bats
    RSPB Spotlight Bats
    Ebook213 pages1 hour

    RSPB Spotlight Bats

    By Nancy Jennings

    ()

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    About this ebook

    RSPB Spotlight: Bats is packed with eye-catching, informative colour photographs and features succinct, detailed text written by a knowledgeable naturalist

    Thanks to their speed, size and nocturnal habitats, bats are among the most interesting, and least understood, mammals that frequent our homes and gardens. From their ability to make sounds that are above the range of human hearing, to their reliance on echolocation to navigate objects and find prey, their unique behaviour means that bats are seldom seen or heard.

    With nearly 1,400 species worldwide, bats make up around 25 per cent of all mammal species. Spotlight Bats features all 17 species that live and breed in the British Isles, as well as an array of the most fascinating bats from around the world, including some of the more charismatic species such as vampire bats and fishing bats. Nancy Jennings uses up-to-date research to provide insights intothe lives of these elusive mammals, covering the biology, diversity, evolution and ecology of bats, as well as their interactions with humans and folklore.

    The Spotlight series introduces readers to the lives and behaviours of our favourite animals with eye-catching colour photography and informative expert text.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateOct 4, 2018
    ISBN9781472950048
    RSPB Spotlight Bats
    Author

    Nancy Jennings

    Nancy Jennings is a biologist specialising in mammals. After gaining her PhD from the University of Bristol, Nancy researched bats, shrews, hares, dolphins, seals, moths, and fish. She now provides editorial support to biologists and is the managing editor of the scientific journal Mammal Review.

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      Book preview

      RSPB Spotlight Bats - Nancy Jennings

      Dedication

      In loving memory of my great friend Kate Barlow (1970–2015), batologist extraordinaire, who used to say ‘don’t be sad it’s over, be glad it happened’.

      Contents

      Meet the Bats

      Evolution and Adaptations

      Bats of the British Isles

      Identifying Bats

      Bats Around the World

      Lifestyle and Behaviour

      Food for Bats and Bats as Food

      Bats in Culture

      Bats and People

      Glossary

      Further Reading and Resources

      Acknowledgements

      Image Credits

      Meet the Bats

      The Common Pipistrelle was believed to be the smallest of the 17 bat species that live and breed in the British Isles; however, that position is now contested by the recently discovered Alcathoe Bat.

      Bats are not the most straightforward animals to get to know. They flit around under cover of darkness, so we rarely see them, and make sounds that are extremely loud but mostly above the range of human hearing, so we cannot hear them. Bats are sometimes viewed, and often portrayed in the media, as weird, creepy, scary or blind, as bloodsucking vampires or fiends, as familiars of wizards or as vital components of witches’ magic spells. But take a closer look and you will find that bats are astounding and fascinating creatures.

      Bats are incredible, but their abilities mostly remain hidden because they are stealthy and rarely seen. Perhaps that is why a close encounter with a bat is so special, and why I still remember the first time I caught a bat in a net as a research student. I was instantly hooked. The warm, silky, stretchy wings were impressive, but it was the bat’s feisty personality that struck me. Looking into the beady eyes of a minuscule bat while holding it gently between your finger and thumb, you might expect it to be terrified, but I received the distinct impression that it was grumpy, outraged and indignant; if it could talk, it would have been ordering me to let it go!

      Greater Horseshoe Bat in typical slow, fluttering flight, using echolocation (see here) in an attempt to capture a moth.

      What makes a bat?

      The evolution of bats (see here) took place over 60–70 million years and was shaped by interactions with other animals and plants. These interactions resulted in the incredible adaptations that bats have today: the ability to fly, to sense their environment, to make the most of the energy they get from their food and to live a nocturnal life.

      Alongside their all-important wings, bats have other special adaptations. Their hind feet and legs allow them to hang upside-down when resting; they can take off, land, mate and even give birth from this topsy-turvy perspective. Bat species in cold climates can hibernate to save energy in winter when food is scarce, and all bats can use a great deal of energy to power their flight.

      Worldwide, the variety of habitats, foods and lifestyles adopted by bats have resulted in impressive diversity. The Spotted Bat is a black and white insect-eater from North America.

      Many bats find their way around by making echolocation calls and listening to the echoes they produce. The complex, high-pitched calls reflect from, or echo off, objects; from these reflections the bats can tell how far away and in what position the objects are, and gauge their texture. They use this special adaptation to detect food in the dark and for orientation. Bats have also evolved ways to locate their young among countless other bats, and to find mates.

      Bats can drink while they are flying; this Natterer’s Bat is about to take a sip from a pond.

      Some bats use their sense of smell to find food. Here, a Common Blossom Bat – the smallest species of the Pteropodidae family – is feeding on nectar from a flower in Australia.

      Yin and Yang

      Biologists today place bats in the order Chiroptera, which is divided into two suborders: Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera. Yinpterochiroptera comprises the families Pteropodidae (186 species including the flying foxes), Rhinolophidae (horseshoe bats) and five others: Craseonycteridae (one species: the tiny Bumblebee Bat; Craseonycteris thonglongyai), Hipposideridae (Old World leaf-nosed bats), Megadermatidae (false vampires), Rhinopomatidae (mouse-tailed bats) and Rhinonycteridae (trident bats). Yangochiroptera comprises all the remaining 14 families of Chiroptera, including the Vespertilionidae (evening bats), the largest family, which has 300 species worldwide and many representatives in Europe.

      Davy’s Naked-backed Bat of Central America appears naked but there is actually dense fur under the skin (left). The Eastern Red Bat of North America has colourful fur and roosts in trees (right).

      Habitats for bats

      There are almost 1,400 species of bat in the world, which means that around 25 per cent of all mammal species are bats. In fact, the only group of mammals that is larger is the rodents, which make up about 40 per cent of all mammal species. Of all the bat species that are found worldwide there are 17 that live and breed in the British Isles; all 17 species are included in this book, and we will look at the simple methods that can be used to identify them later (see here).

      Bats are absent from Antarctica, from very small or isolated islands and from almost all of the Arctic, but they are widespread elsewhere in a diverse array of habitats. Unlike other mammals such as mice, rats and game animals, bats have not been moved around the world much by humans, but their ability to fly has allowed them to colonise many areas, ranging from coastal regions and dense forests to deserts and wetlands. They roost in a variety of places, including caves, cacti, birds’ nests and flowers. Some bats even make ‘tents’ by chewing and bending leaves. Bats make use of human structures for roosting too – mines and tunnels substitute for caves, stone and concrete buildings and bridges provide artificial rock crevices, and wooden buildings have cracks that are used like tree-holes.

      Within the habitats they occupy, bats are vital parts of the ecosystem. Bats that eat fruit and nectar perform the crucial jobs of seed dispersal and pollination for the plants that they feed on. Bats that mainly eat insects (such as mosquitoes, midges and moths) have been estimated to take several thousand insects per bat, per night, and therefore have a role in keeping insect numbers down, which is especially helpful when the insects in question are agricultural pests. Without bats and other animals feeding on them, insects would quickly multiply. The minority of bats that don’t eat insects, flowers or fruit feed on other animals (invertebrates such as spiders and scorpions, fish, frogs, lizards, birds or small mammals, including other bats); three species of bat feed on the blood of mammals or birds.

      Bats worldwide

      Bats in the family Pteropodidae, found in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World (Africa, Europe and Asia), mostly eat fruit, especially wild figs, and are also called the fruit bats; the bigger bat species are called flying foxes. You might see these bats in zoos. The largest bat in the world, the Giant Golden-crowned Flying Fox (Acerodon jubatus), is a member of the Pteropodidae. This forest-dwelling bat, endemic to the Philippines, is classed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), weighs up to 1.2kg (2.6lb; as much as a small rabbit) and has a wingspan of up to 1.7m (5.6ft).

      The large flying foxes have excellent vision, but they feed on plant materials (fruit, flowers, nectar and pollen) rather than on fast-moving insects. Very few flying foxes use echolocation, and they do so in a completely different way from other bats, by listening to the echoes of tongue clicks when flying in dark caves. The other, mostly smaller bats have poorer vision and rely heavily on echolocation. The smallest bat, and one of the world’s smallest mammals, is the Bumblebee Bat. This species lives in limestone river caves in Thailand and Myanmar, and feeds on tiny insects at night. Adults weigh only 2g (less than 1oz), which is about the same as two small paperclips!

      This minute adult Bumblebee Bat was caught in a limestone cave in Thailand. It is the smallest known bat species.

      Evolution and Adaptations

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