From Alzheimer’s to Zebrafish: Eclectic Science and Regulatory Stories 138
Bats have received a great deal of publicity in the past few years, mainly due to a fungal
disease (Geomyces destructans) first noted in New York in early 2006. The disease, termed
white nose syndrome, endangers many local bat populations and has the potential to
cause extinction.1
This would indeed be catastrophic, as bats play a key role in ecosystems around
the world. Bats eat insects, including some that can cause damage to farms and crops.
They also pollinate plants and scatter seed. Studies of bats have contributed to medical
advances including navigational aids for the blind.2
Unfortunately, bats can also be vectors for disseminating the rabies virus and
histoplasmosis infections in humans. In the US, bats are the most common source of indig-
enously acquired human rabies infections, and approximately 2,000 rabies positive bats
are collected annually after humans or domesticated animals have been exposed to them.3
Interesting Facts About Bats
Bats are unique animals there are nearly 1,000 species in the world. They have been
around since the age of the dinosaurs and are the only mammals that actually fly. Bats
are nocturnal, live in secluded caves and roosts and are much different from other mam-
mals. They can transmit high-frequency bursts of sound and pick up echoes to locate and
devour insects and other prey, even in total darkness.
Bats today live in almost every kind of habitat worldwide. They are distributed all
around the world more than 200 species are found in Africa and Madagascar, more than
300 in South and Central America and the Caribbean, and a similar number in South East
Asia and Australasia. Bats are also well represented in higher latitudes about 40 species
live in both North America and western and central Europe. They have found their way to
most islands, however remote, where they may be the only native mammals. There is cir-
cumstantial evidence for the very early origin of bats, as far back as 70–100 million years,
meaning that bats may have watched the demise of the dinosaurs in the mass extinction at
the end of the Cretaceous period.4
Bats range in size from the smallest mammal (the bumblebee bat) that weighs from
1.5 to 2 grams to 1 kilogram flying foxes with wing spans of more than 1.5 meters. They
are currently placed in a single order, Chiroptera and divided into two suborders, Mega-
and Microchiroptera, commonly referred to as megabats and microbats.
Bats feed on a wider variety of food than any other mammal. Most dine on insects
and other arthropods. One species takes a liking to scorpions, while others eat fish,
amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals (including other bats), fruit, nectar, pollen and,
unfortunately, blood. The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), found in tropical
and subtropical areas of the Americas, must have 25 ml blood meals on a regular basis to
survive and, in close-knit groups within a colony, bats will regurgitate some of their last
meal to a buddy who has been unable to feed.
To feed exclusively on blood, vampire bats have heat sensors in the nose leaf (a
fleshy process on the face used for echolocation) for locating capillary-rich areas of skin
modified canines for fur clipping long, sharp incisors for painlessly opening a wound
anticoagulants to prevent clotting and a grooved tongue to help move blood rapidly into
the mouth. A specialized stomach and kidneys rapidly remove the blood plasma, which
the bats often begin to excrete before they have finished their meal.5 Vampire bats feed
primarily on domestic animals, but will take blood from native mammals and birds. They
can live to be about nine years old, but can reach 20 years in captivity.
The common vampire bat is one of the few bat species considered an agricultural
pest due to its habit of feeding on livestock and spreading diseases, which has resulted
in rabies outbreaks in cattle. Recent incidents of vampire bats attacking humans in Peru,
Brazil and El Salvador have also attracted worldwide press interest, compounding the
species’ already negative and misunderstood public perception.6
Bats have received a great deal of publicity in the past few years, mainly due to a fungal
disease (Geomyces destructans) first noted in New York in early 2006. The disease, termed
white nose syndrome, endangers many local bat populations and has the potential to
cause extinction.1
This would indeed be catastrophic, as bats play a key role in ecosystems around
the world. Bats eat insects, including some that can cause damage to farms and crops.
They also pollinate plants and scatter seed. Studies of bats have contributed to medical
advances including navigational aids for the blind.2
Unfortunately, bats can also be vectors for disseminating the rabies virus and
histoplasmosis infections in humans. In the US, bats are the most common source of indig-
enously acquired human rabies infections, and approximately 2,000 rabies positive bats
are collected annually after humans or domesticated animals have been exposed to them.3
Interesting Facts About Bats
Bats are unique animals there are nearly 1,000 species in the world. They have been
around since the age of the dinosaurs and are the only mammals that actually fly. Bats
are nocturnal, live in secluded caves and roosts and are much different from other mam-
mals. They can transmit high-frequency bursts of sound and pick up echoes to locate and
devour insects and other prey, even in total darkness.
Bats today live in almost every kind of habitat worldwide. They are distributed all
around the world more than 200 species are found in Africa and Madagascar, more than
300 in South and Central America and the Caribbean, and a similar number in South East
Asia and Australasia. Bats are also well represented in higher latitudes about 40 species
live in both North America and western and central Europe. They have found their way to
most islands, however remote, where they may be the only native mammals. There is cir-
cumstantial evidence for the very early origin of bats, as far back as 70–100 million years,
meaning that bats may have watched the demise of the dinosaurs in the mass extinction at
the end of the Cretaceous period.4
Bats range in size from the smallest mammal (the bumblebee bat) that weighs from
1.5 to 2 grams to 1 kilogram flying foxes with wing spans of more than 1.5 meters. They
are currently placed in a single order, Chiroptera and divided into two suborders, Mega-
and Microchiroptera, commonly referred to as megabats and microbats.
Bats feed on a wider variety of food than any other mammal. Most dine on insects
and other arthropods. One species takes a liking to scorpions, while others eat fish,
amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals (including other bats), fruit, nectar, pollen and,
unfortunately, blood. The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), found in tropical
and subtropical areas of the Americas, must have 25 ml blood meals on a regular basis to
survive and, in close-knit groups within a colony, bats will regurgitate some of their last
meal to a buddy who has been unable to feed.
To feed exclusively on blood, vampire bats have heat sensors in the nose leaf (a
fleshy process on the face used for echolocation) for locating capillary-rich areas of skin
modified canines for fur clipping long, sharp incisors for painlessly opening a wound
anticoagulants to prevent clotting and a grooved tongue to help move blood rapidly into
the mouth. A specialized stomach and kidneys rapidly remove the blood plasma, which
the bats often begin to excrete before they have finished their meal.5 Vampire bats feed
primarily on domestic animals, but will take blood from native mammals and birds. They
can live to be about nine years old, but can reach 20 years in captivity.
The common vampire bat is one of the few bat species considered an agricultural
pest due to its habit of feeding on livestock and spreading diseases, which has resulted
in rabies outbreaks in cattle. Recent incidents of vampire bats attacking humans in Peru,
Brazil and El Salvador have also attracted worldwide press interest, compounding the
species’ already negative and misunderstood public perception.6