How Do Fruit Bats Work?

bats eat insects, and often incopious amounts. Then you've got your big game hunters, bats who have evolved strong enough jaw muscles that they can prey on vertebrates such as fish, blizzards, or birds. And of course, the blood drinking vampire bats from Central and South America need no introduction. But not all bats are carnivores or vampiric. About three hundred species eat fruits and other plant products to survive, which works out great for the rest of us because those flying

creatures really help the environment. One of the most important families of bats is the Terrapotidae, also known as the Old World fruit bats. They hang out in tropical and subtropical parts of Africa, Eurasia, Australia and many Pacific islands. Remember those gentle giants we mentioned above. Those would be the flying foxes, which are enormous terrapotids that represent the

largest bats alive today. A species called the giant golden crowned flying fox can weigh two and a half pounds or about a kilo, which, trust us is big for a bat. You may be relieved to hear that it is a fruit eater or frugivore with the taste for figs. For the article, this episode is based on How Stuffworks. Spoke by email with biologist Liam maguire, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University. He said terrapottoids eat primarily fruit

and nectar. For example, nectar from the flowers of eucalypt trees is a very important food source for several species of flying foxes in Australia, but tear potted diets can also include other plants, pollen, leaves, and sometimes insects. Shoots, bark and sap are also fair game. But hey, if you think the name Old World fruit bats implies the existence of New World fruit bats, you're right. Indeed, the

Americas have no shortage of winged fruit fanciers. The philus Domidae is another large bat family, one that's distributed across the neotropics of North, South, and Central America plus the Caribbean. While many species are committed insect hunters, dozens of these animals incorporate plant matter into their diets. Depending on the bat in question, fruits, nectars, pollen, or seeds may be

fair game. How stuff works also spoke by email with Nimberto Giannini, mammalogist and research associate at the American Museum of Natural History. He said, frigiferous bats in both the Old World and the New World tropics eat a variety of fruits that tend to be scented, relatively large, green to yellow in color, and exposed away from branches and leaves. So, for example, bananas, mangoes, figs, and dates are all favorite foods for fruit bats. Those Old World terrapotods alone feed

on more than a thousand different plant species. Over two thirds of these grow bats like to consume, and usually this relationship has mutual benefits. Seeds swallowed by fruit bats get released elsewhere when the animals poop. According to a study from nineteen ninety nine, tropical bats in some parts of Mexico distribute more seeds in this manner than fruit eating birds do. After a forested place is devastated by wildfires, droughts,

or human activities, fruit bats help it bounce back. A research suggests that a colony of some one hundred and fifty two thousand African straw colored fruit bats can distribute more than three hundred thousand seeds in a single night. This could be enough to get the reforestation process started across nearly two thousand acres or eight hundred hectares of land. A flower and nectar eaters do their part as well.

Bats are pollinators for upward of five hundred and thirty types of plants, such as pulsa trees, bananas, and dissorted cactuses. Then we have agave, a key ingredient in pequila and sweet agave syrup. Migratory bats eat the nectar from their flowers. In the process, the mammals spread agave pollen around cross fertilizing the plants as they go worldwide. Echolocation is the system by which roughly a thousand species of bats find

food and avoid obstacles. Echolocation is a sound based navigational strategy The process starts when an animal releases high frequency sound waves through its nose or mouth. By carefully listening for the echo of those sounds, the sender can decipher a lot about its surroundings. That's how predatory bats track down mo and mosquitoes in pitch black darkness. But unlike insects, a piece of fruit can't fly away regardless, Giannini explained

quote all New World forgivorous bats use echolocation. This type is called sophisticated laryngeal echolocation, and it's essentially a laryngeal call emitted through the nostrils and modulated using a nose leaf. Nose leaves are sort of pointed, leafy looking structures found around the nasal openings on many bat species faces. In the rest of the world, most fruit bats don't echo locate,

with a few interesting exceptions, Maguire said. Among the Terra pot Day, there are bats in the genus Rascetis that echo locate by clicking their tongues. This mode of echolocation has often been considered primitive, but studies have shown that their tongue click echolocation is quite sophisticated. Other Old World fruit bats make clicking noises with their wings. It's not echo location in the traditional sense, but echoes from those clicks do help the animals get around and to aid

in their quest for vegetarian goodies. Many fruit bats around the world have evolved a keen sense of smell, and flying foxes possess great eyesight as well, so much for the old myth the fats are blind. In today's episode is based on the article fruit bats are the best pollinators and suppliers of tequila on how stifforks dot com, written by Mark Vancini. Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is

produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.