Types of Bats

Published on: Feb 22 2011 by Shenron

Bats are known as flying mammals belong to the order Chiroptera. There are more than 1,000 different known species of bats which is about one fourth of all the mammals found on the planet Earth. Out of these, about seventy percent of the bat species are incest eater or insectivores and some are fruit eaters.

Bats are classified into two suborders: megabats and microbats. Bats are found in several different sizes. The smallest bat has a length of just 2 inch and weigh about an ounce. While the largest bat can grow up to the length of 5 feet and weigh about 3 pounds. In between these two extremes, there are several variations of bats fall. Like variation in their sizes, bats are classified into several different types. Some of the different types of bats are given below:

Fruit Bat

Fruit bats are basically the megabats. In some regions, these are referred to as Flying Fox. You can find a lot of variation in the fruit bat species from one region to another. Due to this feature, they are often wrongly identified and mistaken with certain other species of bats.

Some fruit bats just grow to the length of two inches while some species of fruit bats can grow up to the length of sixteen inches. Similarly, the smaller species usually weigh around an ounce or two while larger species can weigh up to a couple of pounds. Fruit bats possess big eyes with excellent vision. The average length of its wing is five feet.

Indiana Bat

It is more often a medium sized bat which is found in different colors such as brown, black, or gray. A mature or adult bat is just one to two inch in size with a weight range from one fourth of an ounce. A distinguishing feature of these bats is that they have pink lips. It has tiny toes. This bat is often confused with Little Brown Bat.

Indiana Bats are found in several different states of the United States. The most common habitat is Midwestern states, while a good population of these bats can be seen in Eastern and Western states as well. They usually migrate in the winter seasons and hibernate themselves in the caves.

Vampire Bat

Vampire bats are known to have some historical background as they have been part of different legends throughout the course of history. It has a short, cone shaped muzzle, a small tail and very small ears. A wide mouth when opened gives you a very scary feel. An average vampire bat usually has a weight up to two ounce. These are called the vampire bats because of having a distinct vampire like appearance as you have seen in the movies.

Egyptian Fruit Bat

It is a smaller species of fruit bat that grows up to the length of six inches with a weight of about half a pound. The male scrotal sack distinguishes them from the females. The male bats are normally larger in size than the females. Its body is of light brown color while it is darker brown on wings. Its wing can spread to two feet.

They have a long, pointed ears and large, dark eyes. The fur on its body is soft and the tong of these bats is extremely long that remains coiled up to the rib cage. It is snout area is similar to that of canine.

Little Brown Bat

Little brown bat is a popular bat species which are small in size. They can grow up to the size of 3 to 3 ½ inches. The average weight of a little brown bat is about half an ounce or less. The little brown bat has a short, round ears and the wing span in an outstretched form reaches to 8 inches.

Kitti’s Hog-Nosed Bat or Bumblebee Bat

Kitti’s Hog Nosed Bat or Bumblebee bat is the smallest species of the bat family all over the world. Its small size makes it a smallest mammal of the world also. It is called bumblebee bat because of its extremely small size.

Kitti’s Hog Nosed Bat normally grows up to the size of one inch with a weight of less than ¼ of an ounce. It has ears relatively large for its body. Its tail is perhaps best suited for its body size as it is hardly visible. Many people think that this bat has no tail, but it does have. If we consider its body, it usually possesses long wings which often surprise the people.

It is unique in its looks in the sense that it has different color combination than other bat species. It is found in red or gray color rather than black or brown. Its snout is resembles the hog so as it gets its name as hog-nosed.

These are some of the different types of the bats which are quite different from each other in terms of their appearance, size and colors. Bats are interesting creatures which are known for certain distinct features all over the world.

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