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Meet the bat
Echolocation lets a bat build a sound picture detailed enough to catch a mosquito in total darkness.
🏡 Caves, trees and buildings on every continent except Antarctica.🍽️ Insects, fruit or nectar depending on the species.⏳ Some bats live over 30 years — extraordinary for their size.🛡️ Many bat species are threatened by habitat loss and disease.
Friends and family
Vampire bats share food with hungry friends and remember who shared with them.
A mother bat finds her own pup among thousands by voice and smell.
How they talk
Bats have individual 'names' in their calls and argue about food and sleeping spots.
How clever are they?
Bats build mental maps of enormous territories.
What they feel
Bats form long friendships and groom their friends.
Superpower: Echolocation
Some bats can detect something as thin as a human hair using sound alone.
👀 See the world through their eyes
Hearing
Bats hear ultrasound far above our range, and build 3D pictures from echoes.
🤓 Did you know?
- Vampire bats share food with friends who shared with them.
- Bats use individual 'names' when calling each other.
- Bats pollinate over 500 plant species.
Living alongside people
Bats eat huge numbers of insects and pollinate plants like bananas and agave.