• The bats
• The differences between bat species
• The senses of the bat
• The habits of the bat

The bats

We know of numerous mammals capable of living in water but only one of them has adapted so much that flight is possible . Some mammals are able to glide even for long distances but only the bat is capable of a proper flight. 

Over the millennia, chiroptera have developed special membranes in the upper limbs to generate a highly maneuvered flight, shared by all the members of its order, from the tiny bumblebee bat that barely exceeds 3 centimeters, to the remarkable flying fox with a golden head , with a wingspan of approximately 1.7 meters. 

We know better this animal spread all over the world with the exception of the Arctic and Antarctica.

The differences between bat species

There are numerous legends and clichés about bats but in reality they have many different types of behaviors due to the fact that there are about 1300 different species of known bats. 

The name itself derives from the Latin and indicates the specificity of nocturnal wakefulness behavior , but this is not always the case: in some cases, especially in the tropics, bats are particularly active even during the day. 

Even at the food level, the bats have adapted according to the cases to diets of different regimes. While, as myths tell us, some of them are vampires and drink the blood of mammals, others are exclusively
insectivores , while many bat species love fruit. 

There is no shortage of those that feed on molluscs and other invertebrates , or on small amphibians. Given all this, it is easy to understand why the classification of bats is a complex matter.

The senses of the bat

Large bats generally have a long snout with somewhat canine features, while small bats have large ears and a flattened snout with a wrinkled nose. 

The bones of the limbs are among the most flexible of all mammals, a genetic expedient to allow a precise flight able to follow the smallest of insects. For hunting, bats orient themselves thanks to the echolocation produced by the echo of the ultrasounds. 

But that is not all. Many think that bats are blind but in reality no species are . Those who live in caves also have a special vision, and all bats have, like migratory birds, magnetic field receptors.

The habits of the bat

The social habits of bats also change from species to species. While some bats are almost  solitary , others live in very large communities , in some cases of over a million individuals.
Both trends have pros and cons: living in a group increases competitiveness for food and for finding a partner but drastically decreases the chances of being a victim chosen by a predator. 

The relationship with humans is also of various kinds : while in Europe it is seen as an agent of evil linked to demons and witches, in the New World it was often associated with the gods, such as the god Zapotec, and therefore worshiped.