Advanced Echolocation: Bats Use Echoes of Own Vocalizations To Anticipate Location, Trajectory of Prey
Echolocation Builds Prediction Models of Prey Movement Bats are not only using their acoustical abilities to find a meal — they are also using it…
Bats
Female Vampire Bats Prefer To Forage for Blood With Friends
Tagging reveals that closely bonded female bats leave the roost separately but reunite when hunting. During nightly foraging trips, female vampire bats preferentially meet up…
I Get Blood With a Little Help From My Friends: Vampire Bats May Coordinate With “Friends” Over a Bite To Eat
Study tracks foraging behavior of 50 bats in the wild. Vampire bats that form bonds in captivity and continue those “friendships” in the wild also…
Bat Guts Become Less Healthy From Diet of “Fast Food” From Banana Plantations
Banana plantations are a reliable food source for nectar-feeding bats, but their effect on the bat’s gut microbiota is akin to that of a fast…
Moth Wingtips Structured To Reflect Sound: An “Acoustic Decoy” To Thwart Bat Attack
Wingtips of certain species of silkmoth are structured to reflect sound and throw off attackers, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of…
Blood-Sucking Bugs Find Bats To Bite Thanks to Bacteria
Blood-sucking flies may be following chemicals produced by skin bacteria to locate bats to feed on. We humans aren’t the only animals that have to…
Babbling Baby Bats Sound Strikingly Similar to Human Infants
More than anything else, language defines human nature. Speech, the vocal output of language, requires precise control over our vocal articulators, including tongue, lips and…
Creating a Phantom River: Experimental Broadcast of Whitewater River Noise Drives Bats and Birds Away
While many might consider a walk in the woods to be a quiet, peaceful escape from their noisy urban life, we often don’t consider just…
Bats’ Surprising “Supersense” of Time: They Know the Speed of Sound From Birth
A new Tel Aviv University study has revealed, for the first time, that bats know the speed of sound from birth. In order to prove…
Experiments Show Cryptic Sixth Sense of Orientation of Bats Lies in the Eye
Mammals see with their eyes, hear with their ears and smell with their nose. But which sense or organ allows them to orient themselves on…
If COVID Spread to North American Bats, It Could Be Disastrous – Here Is the Current Risk Assessment
The risk is low that scientists could pass coronavirus to North American bats during winter research, according to a new study led by the U.S….
New Research Finds SARS-CoV-2 (the Virus That Causes COVID-19) Jumped From Bats to Humans Without Much Change
How much did SARS-CoV-2 need to change in order to adapt to its new human host? In a research article published in the open access…
One of the Most Abundant Bats in Europe Is Attracted to Wind Turbines – Increasing Risk of Fatality
One of the most abundant bats in Europe may be attracted to wind turbines, a new study shows. The activity of common pipistrelle bats was…
Climate Change May Have Driven the Emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the Virus That Caused the COVID-19 Pandemic
Global greenhouse gas emissions over the last century have made southern China a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses, by driving growth of forest habitat favored by…
Scientists Discover How Fast-Flying Bats Are Able to Reach Great Heights of Over 1,600 Meters
Although scientists knew that some bats could reach heights of over 1,600 meters (or approximately one mile) above the ground during flight, they didn’t understand…
“Spectacular” New Species of Bat Discovered in African “Sky Island”
A group of scientists led by the American Museum of Natural History and Bat Conservation International have discovered a new species of a striking orange…
Fatal Attraction: Bats With White-Nose Syndrome Prefer Deadly Habitats Despite the Consequences
Since 2006, a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has caused sharp declines in bat populations across the eastern United States. The fungus that causes the…
New Research Uncovers Why Bats Excel As Viral Reservoirs Without Getting Sick
Study confirms bats adopt multiple strategies to reduce pro-inflammatory responses, thus mitigating potential immune-mediated tissue damage and disease. Findings provide important insights for medical research…