The Many Bats of the World

The only mammal that is able to fly, the bat is also one of the most widespread and varied animals in the world.  With around 1,200 different types living today, they represent the second largest order of mammals, only ranking behind rodents. Bats are divided into two primary groups: megachiroptera, or megabats, and microchiroptera, or microbats.

Megabats typically do not rely on echolocation, as microbats do. They subsist on nectar, pollen, and fruits. Species include:

• Black flying fox
• Dyak fruit bat
• Dusky fruit bat
• Eastern tube nosed bat
• Giant golden-crowned flying fox
• Greater and lesser short-nosed fruit bats
• Panay giant fruit bat
• Pygmy fruit bat
• Spectacled flying fox
• Spotted-winged fruit bat
• Straw-colored fruit bat
• Talaud flying fox

Meanwhile, microbats have very poor visual capabilities, and do rely on echolocation or sonar-style navigation to hunt the insects and small animals that are their prey. Species of microbats are as follows:

• Ghost bat
• Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, the smallest in the world (6-inch wingspan, less than .1oz in weight)
• Lesser horseshoe bat
• Northern ghost bat
• Seychelles sheath-tailed bat
• Vampire bat

The smallest bat in the world is the Kitti’s hog-nosed, with a total wingspan less than six inches wide and a weight typically lower than .1oz. By contrast, the giant golden-crowned flying fox looms as the largest bat in the world, with an average wingspan over five feet and weight of up to four pounds. Please visit this website to learn more about bat removal in Cary.