Everyone knows what a chiropteran is . Those small flying fuzzballs with freaky faces that hang up upside down by their feet . But it seems many people are n’t mindful that squash racquet can lay out in size from the arcminute to the massive , with one family of bats , known as the “ fruit bat ” , having wingspan of up to 1.7 meters ( 5.6 metrical unit ) .
Just of late , a Twitter user named David , aka@VeganGenesis , wreak megabat to the aid of the net .
Yep , they ’re really big .
Some the great unwashed were really , reallyterrified .
With many make believe an obvious comparison .
But if you ’re think these cricket bat as blood - sucking monsters , think again . Various exploiter were relieve to discover out that these guys are harmless fruitarians .
( They do n’t really exhaust worm , but other kinds of bats do . )
Others quite rightly pointed out that fruit bat are totally adorbs , likening them to pup of the sky .
Some people mean they ’d spotted an interesting pattern …
… but they ’ve clearly never do across a pale spear - nosed bat ( Phyllostomus discolor ) .
One someone even share a video of megabats in action .
So what really are megabats ?
Megabats is the general name for bats belong to the Pteropodidae family , which include Old World yield bats aka flying foxes . megabat are found in tropical and subtropic parts of Africa , Europe , Asia , and Oceania . While some members of the megabat kin are for sure large , others are in reality rather tiny , with one coinage ( the Mauritian grave bat ) being just 6 centimeter ( 2.4 inches ) long .
And , as advert above , these guys are altogether harmless , eating nothing but yield , pollen , and the nectar of flower . They have a very good sense of look and excellent sightedness for locating their food , and unlike many other bats , they do n’t rely onecholocation . During the day they can usually be found hang upside down in trees , although a handful of metal money do venture into cave .
unhappily , many megabats arethreatened with extinctiondue to threats such as deforestation and hunting . Thanks to their diet , they are vital to the wider ecosystem , as they serve to dot seeds and pollen . One central intent of squash racket conservationists is to change attitudes towards these often misunderstood puppet .
So if you ’re still feeling a bit unnerved by the conception of the fruit bat , take a look at these adorable babies being looked after atBats QLD , a bat rehabilitation center based in Queensland Australia .
