Why Are Bat Viruses So Deadly? Answers to the Question Raised by Coronavirus Outbreak
Bats’ fierce immune systems drive viruses to higher virulence, making them deadlier in humans. It’s no coincidence that some of the worst viral disease outbreaks…
Bats
Ebola-Like Marburg Virus Found in Sierra Leone Bats
Scientists have detected Marburg virus in fruit bats in Sierra Leone, marking the first time the deadly virus has been found in West Africa. Eleven…
Birds and Bats Have Strange Gut Microbiomes — Why? Scientists Have a Theory
At a time when kombucha is commonplace on cafe menus and “probiotic-fortified” has become the newest health buzzword, our guts have never been more relevant….
Mini GPS Systems Show How Bats Cope With Berlin’s Bright Night Sky
The metropolitan area of Berlin is mostly unsuitable as a habitat for bats because of the bright night sky. Dark corridors such as city forests,…
Illumination Drives Bats Out of Caves, No Matter the Color of the Light
Artificial light influences the behavior of many nocturnal animals such as bats, which are very sensitive to all types of lighting. Particularly critical is the…
Wildfires Benefits Bats – Study Used Acoustic Surveying Technology to Track Echolocation Patterns
Fire plays important role for Sierra Nevada bats. Bats face many threats — from habitat loss and climate change to emerging diseases, such as white-nose…
Bat Warning: Evidence of Cross-Species Virus Transmission From Bats to Humans
Infectious diseases spilling over from wildlife are not new — as of 2008, approximately 70 percent of all known emerging diseases are thought to have…
“Bound by Blood” – Vampire Bats Keep ‘Friends’ Made in Captivity After Release Into Wild
Vampire bats that share food and groom each other in captivity are more likely to stick together when they’re released back into the wild, find…
Researchers Studied a Colony of Big Brown Bats to Learn How Bats Relocate in Response to Tree Loss
Identifying how groups of animals select where to live is important for understanding social dynamics and for management and conservation. In a recent Journal of…
Bats Hunt Their Prey Using Private and Social Information
In the arms race between predators and prey, each evolves more and more sophisticated ways of catching or escaping from the other. Rachel Page, staff…
Scientists Surprised to Find New Species of Horseshoe Bats
There are way more species of horseshoe bats than scientists thought. If you’ve never seen a horseshoe bat, you’re missing out. Their comically large ears…
Tiny GPS Backpacks Uncover the Secret Life of Desert Bats
A new study from the University of Helsinki using miniaturized satellite-based tags revealed that during drier periods desert bats must fly further and longer to…
MIT Engineers Show How Hairy Tongues Help Bats Drink
Animals have evolved all manner of adaptations to get the nutrients they need. For nectar-feeding bats, long snouts and tongues let them dip in and…
Scientists Discover Fossils of a Giant Extinct Burrowing Bat in New Zealand
The fossilized remains of a giant burrowing bat that lived in New Zealand millions of years ago have been found by a UNSW Sydney-led international…
Kitti’s Hog-Nosed Bat Is World’s Smallest Mammal
The Kitti’s hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), sometimes referred to as the bumblebee bat due to its diminutive size, was discovered in 1970s and could arguably…
Bats Tune Frequency of Echolocation to Change Field Perception
Bats can broaden and narrow their visual field by modulating the frequency of their vocalizations they use to navigate and find prey. The scientists published…
Central American Bats Harbor a New Subtype of Influenza
It’s been reported that fruit bats in Guatemala are hosting a new type of the influenza A virus, according to a new study published in…