What does the bat look like and what does it eat?

To start with, bats arethe only mammals on Earth who can fly! Once zoologists isolated them in a separate order - bats. So, the topic of today's article is bats mammals. We will find out what the bat is eating, how it looks and where it lives.

Why bats?

The fact is that their "wings" are legs with long phalanxes of fingers, connected by a leathery membrane. It stretches like a membrane and turns the animal's foot into a "wing".

Theory of origin

The first bats appeared on our planeteven fifty million years ago. The found skeleton of the very first birch creature - icaronikteris - suggests that these animals lived already during the Eocene period. Today, scientists advance the theory of the origin of bats from insectivorous animals that inhabit trees.

How does the bat look like?

First we note that these creatures can be noticeablydiffer from each other in appearance and size. However, despite the fact that they eat bats, where they live and how they look, they are all representatives of one order of animals on our planet. His name is bats. Do not confuse them with flying squirrels, which, by the way, do not even fly independently, but simply plan from branch to branch! So, how do our heroes look?

They have an ugly face. Their body is covered with a small fur. The abdomen is usually lighter than the back. The range of wings-hands varies depending on the type of animal: from 15 centimeters (red evening) to ... 2 meters (fox Bismarck)! Hand-wings have the same structure regardless of the type of mouse. The shoulders of bats are quite powerful, and the long forearm consists of only one bone - the ray. Can you imagine ?! Their big short finger is opposed to the four others and ends with a hooked claw.

What does the bat eat?

Virtually all kinds of these creatures are insectivorous. But, as you know, insects are the most numerous class of animals on Earth. Therefore, the answer to the question about what the bat is eating is quite extensive: some prefer butterflies and midges, others - spiders and beetles, others - dragonflies, and some - wood larvae. Let's find out how bats get their livelihood.

Usually all bats take their prey on the flyin the air, but some of them are able to rationally use their arms-wings: they work as a net or blades, thus picking up the prey closer to themselves. Eat almost all the mice on the fly, only some species have learned to lead a more imposing way of life: after hunting they are more comfortable arranged in a favorite place for a thorough meal.

Lifestyle

Despite the diversity of species of these creatures, theirthe way of life is surprisingly similar: almost all bats are awake at night, and in the daytime they sleep, hanging their heads down. Note that the nests (like birds), these creatures do not vyut. Most bats lead a collective way of life, hermits among them are few.

When the winter comes, the bats fall into a hibernation, waiting for the cold time in the most secluded and hidden places of Mother Nature: in caves, abandoned mines, in hollows of trees and in crevices of rocks.

What does the bat eat in the winter? The answer is simple: nothing. To overwinter and not to die of hunger, mice actively accumulate fat. Often its mass is about a third of the mass of the whole body. And wake up mammals at the time of hibernation can not - in most cases, such an action will lead to the death of the animal, since the energy source is already consumed, and there is nowhere to take new food. Fall asleep a second time, the mouse can no longer wake up.