Bats

1. Bats Awesome Hearing By: Ally N

2. Introduction • The bat’s scientific name is Pipistrellus. • There are many types of bats. • I will talk to you about my favorite bat, the vampire bat (DesmodusRotundus). • A vampire bat lives about 9 years in the wild and up to 19 years in captivity. • The vampire bat is not an endangered species.

3. Physical Features • The vampire bat has dark grey-brown fur. • It looks sort of like a pig with fangs and pointy ears! • A vampire bat is only about three inches long. • Its wingspan is around 8 inches. • A vampire bat weighs about one ounce. • It has very strong legs. • A vampire bat has a clawed thumb that comes out of the front edge of its wing. The bat uses it to crawl on its prey.

4. More Physical Features • A vampire bat has two very pointy front teeth called fangs. • Their wings are grayish black and they feel like soft leather. • A vampire bat’s eyes are black. They can’t see very well though. Their hearing is much sharper. • Vampire bats sometimes have white fur on their bellies.

5. Habitat • Bats can be found anywhere around the world except in extremely cold places. • But vampire Bats like tropical and subtropical places in Central and South America. • Vampire bats will nest in caves, mines, tree hollows, abandoned buildings, and anywhere else that provides them with a dark shelter to hang out in. • Bats don’t sleep at night, which means they are nocturnal. They are awake at night.

6. Climate • Vampire bats like to be cool, so they nest in cool places like caves. A bat’s cave might be 35⁰F in the winter and 47⁰F in the summer. • The temperature outside of their caves is warmer, around 67⁰F in Central and South America. • They also like the cool, wet climate of the rainforest in South America.

7. Landforms The caves are black and a little bit brown. The caves are wet and the bats live or sleep hanging down from the black roof. The ground is black and brown dirt. Outside, the cave is made out of rocks. Around the caves, it’s all grass.

8. Food Bats eat at night because they’re nocturnal. Most bats eat insects. Vampire bats eat blood and animals blood, all they eat is blood. Vampire bats make a cut in the animals arm or leg and then suck the blood from the animal.

9. Prey And Predator Predator The vampire bat’s predators are: • Owls • Eagles • Hawks • Farmers (they kill them because bats carry rabies and other diseases) Vampire bats are predator to : • Mice • Rats • Birds • Other mammals Prey

10. Behavior • Vampire bats are nocturnal, which means they are awake at night and asleep all day. They sleep hanging upside down. • Bats are really mean to each other because they want to have their own food and they only share with their babies and others in their colony. • Vampire bat families always fly together in a group (or colony) so the babies are safe. • If a vampire bat doesn’t eat for two days it will die.

11. Babies • When vampire bats are babies, they are called pups. • Only one vampire bat baby is born at a time. • The mother bat feeds the baby by throwing up blood after a big meal. • At four months, the pup leaves the nest to learn about finding its own food.

12. Behavioral Adaptations • When bats are outside of their caves, they also use their hearing to find their prey and to avoid predators. • They also sleep huddled together to keep them warm. • Bats will also hibernate when there isn’t much food or the weather is too cold. This helps them stay alive until warmer weather comes.

13. Physical Adaptations • Vampire bats have grayish brown fur because they need to camouflage. The fur also keeps them warm in the cold climate. • Vampire bats have sharp teeth because they need to bite into their prey. • Vampire bats use draculin to keep their prey’s blood from clotting. • Vampire bats have a clawed thumb so they can hold onto and pick up their prey if they need to.

14. Physiological Adaptations • Vampire bats are cold blooded. That’s how they are able to live in a 35⁰F cave. • Vampire bats use their hearing to get around because they can’t see very well. • Sounds echo off objects when they are about to bump into them. • Bat wings have bones that are long fingers. This helps them fold or wrap their wings around their bodies when sleeping. The legs of bats are also connected to the body with the same bones and the wings help bats have incredible maneuverability.

15. fun facts • Male bats attract female bats by screeching. • There are over a 1,000 types of bats in the world. • Vampire bats are the only bats that can walk. • Vampire bats drink the blood of cows, pigs, and birds. • Bats are the the only mammals that fly.