Bats have confusing names. Indeed, they are not mice, and they are not bald. In fact, the term "bald" has nothing to do with their hairiness; It comes from the Low Latin cava, which means "owl". Literally called "mouse owls" in antiquity, these animals are neither birds nor rodents. This name is based solely on a quick observation of these strange creatures: they actually have a small hairy head with large ears reminiscent of mice, and an ability to fly and a nocturnal character reminiscent of owls. Yet they belong to a separate order, the bats, which has 1400 species, or a fifth of the mammals on Earth. It is the most important order in the world after that of rodents.

Flying mammals

Bats, or bats, are flying mammals that are usually nocturnal. To orient themselves in the dark, they have the particularity of using ultrasound; This ability is highly developed in insectivorous species because it allows them to hunt blindly or almost blindly. Other species of the subfamily Desmodontinae are commonly called vampires because they feed on blood; They have a wide muzzle and particularly developed canines. They are not found in our latitudes, they are tropical South American species. Finally, there are huge bats with elongated snouts that look much more like canids than rodents: flying foxes. They live in the forests of Asia, Oceania and Africa and feed on fruits and flower nectar.

While bats are not birds, they have developed similar adaptations to occupy fairly close ecological niches: they fly, have a diet similar to many avian species, nest in colonies and rest, for some, in trees. When genetically radically different animals have similarities in their behavior or appearance, as is the case for bats and birds, we speak of evolutionary convergence.


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