Talk:Bat

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Contents 1 odd sentence in introduction 2 Sacred 3 20% of all mammals are bats? 4 any more information on how about a bat goes about making the chirp noises 5 Megabats vs microbats 6 Picture label wrong? 7 Why bat fly at night. 8 Number of species 9 Torpor 10 Hoary bat & List of Australian bats 11 Bats evolved from civets 12 Longevity 13 Thin as a drink of water 14 Hipposideridae 15 Does bats leave their caves left way... 15.1 From Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science 16 What's this about vectors for pathogens? 17 Bat gestation period? 18 Only mammals capable of flight? 19 Requested move 20 False Vampire Bat confusion 21 At least two known species of bat are cannibalistic, feeding on other bats 22 A secret legend of becoming a bat! 23 Broken citation links 23.1 1 23.2 2 24 Who is skelotor 25 Wording problem 26 Habitat 27 Bat Conservation International link needed here, and separate BCI article needed also 28 Are bats capable of terrestrial locomotion? 29 Are bats truly disappearing?

[edit] odd sentence in introduction

"Bats are present throughout most of the world, including Alaska."

...including Alaska?! I don't doubt it's true, but is it really necessary to say that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.210.35.24 (talk) 12:27, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sacred

Bats are sacred in England? -- IHCOYC 14:34 25 Jun 2003 (UTC)

What sort of statement/question is that? I presume you are a none English speaker by it?

Bats (all species) are fully protected by law in the UK, not just in England ie, it is illegal to disturb them or even handle one without permission. Steve-nova

But sacred would mean they are revered, in a religious kind of way. That is not the case in the UK! Agree with Ihcoyc. Pcb21| Pete 15:19, 22 Aug 2004 (UTC)

And I quote from dictionary.com's description of the word Sacred: "properly immune from violence, interference, etc., as a person or office." and "secured against violation, infringement, etc., as by reverence or sense of right: sacred oaths; sacred rights.". Sacred is the right word and isn't *always* based in religion SmUX 13:07, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

In normal English usage, "sacred" always implies reverence or respect (through either religious or secular tradition). Bats attract no such traditional reverence or respect in England. The proper term is "protected" (by law). FredV 11:36, 7 November 2007 (UTC) 7 Nov 2007

are bats invertabrates? you guys dont tell people nothin! Notta thing!

This comment is out of place, but, since you ask, bats are mammals (see taxobox). All mammals (together with all fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds) are vertebrates. FredV 11:36, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 20% of all mammals are bats?

This BBC article says that "Bats make up 20% of mammals." If someone can confirm this factoid, it might make an interesting addition to the article. --NeuronExMachina 00:23, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Some 1100 bats and some 5500 mammals makes exactly 20 percent. Ucucha 09:31, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I believe you, but where are those numbers from? --Acefox 05:04, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

Mammal Taxonomy, and probably also MSW 3rd edition. It may be something more or less. In any case, the number of bat species is increasing with great speed. Ucucha|... 05:50, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

It's true. They're are the most numerous of all mammals next to rodents. Dora Nichov 03:28, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

That's -species-. 1 in 5 species of living mammals is a kind of bat. Talzhemir —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.240.15.94 (talk) 12:13, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] any more information on how about a bat goes about making the chirp noises

how do the bats go about making the chirping sounds, all 3 animals do use echolocation, but each has different parts that are unique to the species that should be documented in some way.

Might also do to mention, the "chirp" lasts just 0.01sec (10 millisec), & all bats are said to have individual calls... Trekphiler 05:44, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Actually Bats makes sound called altrasonic sound which the normal human auditory organ cannot pick up this used for movement also the same kind of sound that the ship use to view the sea bed so that it can navigate safely. It is the echo that the Bat received from the sound they make that they use in navigating the way around, because the Bat cannot see with their eyes, they literarily blind. 29 April 2008. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nerolee (talk • contribs) 11:41, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Megabats vs microbats

There are some statements in the article which apply only to microbats, not all bats. If no one objects, I will modify or delete the incorrect statements, possibly moving the statements to the microbat article.

All bats are active at night or at twilight, so the eyes of most species are poorly developed

The eyes of megabats are highly developed.

The teeth resemble those of the insectivores.

The milk teeth of the two types of bats are distinct (http://www.uq.edu.au/nuq/jack/funeral.html). I suspect that the adult teeth are distinct as well, but I don't know.

Does anyone know whether one-way valves are in the arteries of megabats and microbats?

Nereocystis 00:01, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

There are also some microbats, for example in the familie Phyllostomidae, that are active at days, I thought. Ucucha (talk) 19:05, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Referring to the separately evolved capacity for flight between megabats and microbats, the article says "if so, the Microchiroptera would have uncertain affinities." But it is unclear what "uncertain affinities" means. A link to a definition, or a brief explanation contained within the same paragraph, would be helpful. Robert K S 04:49, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

no bat has poorly developed eyes! It's a myth! Bats aren't blind! Dora Nichov 03:29, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Can somebody who is more knowledgable than I clean up the megabats evolution section. At the edit that I saw, it was quite confusing. If that section is trying to say that they have developed from primates then edit all the sections where it says essentially therefore they aren't. If they aren't stop saying "therefore they aren't when the evidence given seems to say they are." If it's not clear then lay out the two arguments instead of mixing them together. Thanks. If it has been corrected by the time somebody sees this post, please delete this post. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.18.219.154 (talk) 02:46, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Picture label wrong?

The image used, Image:Big-eared-townsend-fledermaus.jpg is described on its page as a Big eared townsend bat (Corynorhinus townsendii), yet this article calls it a Leaf-nosed bat in the hover text.

Leaf-nosed bats do not include Corynorhinus, according to the Leaf-nosed bat article. --Singkong2005 04:20, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Seems to be fixed now - I trust that it is indeed a Big eared townsend bat --Singkong2005 03:35, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Why bat fly at night.

Is there any reason why bat fly during the night. Is it possible because as a warm blooded mammals, the temperature generated during flying can reach dangerous level if the bat fly under sunlight? Yosri 12:37, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

It's more likely to be related to having evolved from a nocturnal animal and to fill ecological niches not previously occupied by birds. --Aranae 20:32, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, there's less birds at night, so that's where a flying mammal could fit in. Dora Nichov 03:30, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

>> AND...there's plenty of nocturnal flying insects. I wonder what Darwin says about how food-supply drives evolution.

Many bats likely fly at night due to their food source is active at that time. Due to their ability to locate food through the use of ecolocation (insead of by sight), there is no advantage to fly during the day. www.crittercatchersinc.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.240.15.94 (talk) 12:51, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I think bats most likely fly at night just because their shrew-like insectivore ancestors were nocturnal. Talzhemir

[edit] Number of species

I really want to see the number of species given in the article, as most people have no idea at all what a large percentage of mammal species the bats are. I used the figure from 20% of all mammals are bats? above on this page. We can tweak this as necessary, but as I say, I think it really belongs in the article (and in the introductory section, to boot). -- Writtenonsand 20:17, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

There 1100+ species (1144 according to my own listing), but these numbers are in state of flux: last year 11 new species (and two new genera) were described, and some others have been resurrected. I think it'd be safe to say that there are 1100-1150 species of bats, which is about 20% of the total of 5500+ mammals. Ucucha (talk) 19:59, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

That would be, 1 in 5 *species* is a bat. Talzhemir

[edit] Torpor

I have read that bats enter a state of torpor during the day is this all bats (Mega & micro) this could do with mentioning some where.--SuperJ587 13:01, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hoary bat & List of Australian bats

I created the first article and then found that the second linked to it. However, it's a different type of bat (Hoary Wattled bat). One thing I did notice that several of the "Vespertilionidae" were listed as "Chanlinolobus" a quick (and I admit it's not always a relilable guid) search of Google would indicate that "Chalinolobus" is the more correct spelling. See the search results for "Chanlinolobus dwyeri" and "Chalinolobus dwyeri". I changed them based on that but would ask that someone else reveiw.

Also please review the Hoar bat article as I am basing it on a Canadian book printed in Nunavut yet the bat is found in other countries and needs that input. Thanks. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 16:15, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bats evolved from civets

What source is this from as I haven't been able to find it anywhere147.188.27.81 12:28, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

That's crap. If it is in the article, it should be deleted as soon as possible. Ucucha 13:15, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Chickens are NOT eaten by bats, they are to big.

Yes, I've looked at the article and I see no links to any proof of this. It sure sounds odd, but truth is stranger than fiction. The point is the statement needs support. --SafeLibraries 14:05, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Apparently the oldest bat fossil is 60 million years old and civets didn't exist as a group that early. Although who knows with the recent shake up, but it's certainly a strong enough claim to need strong proof.

Most experts say microbats are descended from shrew-like animals and megabats from lemur-like ones. Dora Nichov 08:03, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Not so anymore. Nowadays many mammalogists seem to accept the notion that bats are a monophyletic group, which apparently evolved from something near the ancestry of the Carnivora. Microbats are not monophyletic; the so-called "Yinochiroptera" (Rhinolophidae, Rhinonycteridae, Megadermatidae, Rhinopomatidae, Craseonycteridae and Nycteridae) are more closely related to Pteropodidae than to the other microbats ("Yangochiroptera"), although that may be a slightly more controversial position. Ucucha 10:12, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Lot of bigs words there, Ucucha! I like animals and know a lot 'bout them, but those are big words even for me. *Whew!* Dora Nichov 09:01, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

A good number of studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of bats show they're close to insectivores first (with carnivores a close second).

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_200001/ai_mark08990667 http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/17/9/1334 Morphology agrees. The primitive bat specimen found in 2003 is an insect-eater (as most bats today still are). It could fly but it has insectivore-like, not echo-locating, ear parts. http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2008/02/13/earliest-bat-fossil-reveals-transition-to-flight I'm just a *little* sad-- I really did want to think us primates were closely related to those marvellous flyers. Those gliding colugos are just posers.  ;) Talzhemir —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.240.15.94 (talk) 10:06, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Actually, molecular evidence shows that bats are part of the taxon Scrotifera, which also includes carnivores, cetartiodactyls, pangolins, and perissodactyls. Core insectivores (shrews, moles, hedgehogs, and solenodons) are the sister group to this clade; together they form the Laurasiatheria.

The articles you cite don't really support your statement that insectivores are bats' closest relatives (assuming you mean modern core insectivores, i.e. shrews, hedgehogs, and moles). The first article does indeed mention a relationship between bats and carnivores, but that is not surprising when they don't include other Laurasiatheria. The second study is based on mtDNA, which is not considered very reliable, especially for deep relationships (and even then, it does not support a bat-insectivore clade, but instead shows Scrotifera).

Of course, that does not mean that bats could not have descended from an insectivore ancestor, though the molecular data don't directly proof that. Personally, I'd speculate that the Laurasiatheria descend from some inconspicuous shrew-like animal, which may have looked like modern shrew-moles or gymnures, which then gave rise to a grade of condylarths from which the carnivores, artiodactyls and perissodactyls descended. Perhaps bats developed from some arboreal offspring of those.

And don't be sad - we lost the bats, but we got far more back (Euarchontoglires). ;-) Ucucha 13:24, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Longevity

Recently a Brandt's Bat Myotis brandtii at least 41 years old was discovered in Russia. [1] --Anshelm '77 22:33, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

One very interesting aspect of bat biology not really mentioned in the article is their longevity. Most mammals of a corresponding size (e.g. mice)live just a few years. Ophiuchus13 18:32, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Indeed. The longest lifespan I've found for a shrew (species undetermined) – which are similar in size and metabolic rate – was 4 years. --Anshelm '77 (talk) 20:52, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thin as a drink of water

I'm having a hard time believing "bat bathing".

Some people enjoy bat bathing; standing at an opening to a cave they wait until the bats leave, surrounding them in a 'sea' of bats.

A citation was requested and not forthcoming, then the [Bat bathing] article was deleted, and the material deleted here, re-added, re-deleted, re-added. There is not another reference to this anywhere Googlable except derived from here. And while I could imagine someone might think it delicious to stand in a stream of hungry bats, notwithstanding the note about clumsiness and rabidity, it doesn't seem important to the article as a whole. I'm removing this mention and the non-existent link, and assume that any actual citations will accompany re-introduction. Shenme 08:19, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

I found this an interesting concept so decided to look it up. I found a few links on google but nothing conclusive. Try http://www.trendpediawiki.com/Bat_bathing

One thing I have noticed, and this is probably an important point...*EVERY* single site that mentions this phenomena uses the *exact* same words mentioned above (that "some people enjoy...") so it is feeling more and more like an urban myth to me. However, reading the above link I gave, I notice that the "danger" mentioned above (rabidity) would only be an issue if the person "bathing" were to move...it's obvious when you think about it, they'll find a way around you fairly easily using their sonar and will only be a danger if you move or if they're vampire bats (muahahahahah, scrub that last bit about vampire bats :-)) SmUX 13:22, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Mm, "bat bathing" *is* potentially hazardous. The first thing a lot of Mexican Free-tails like to do when they come out of a bridge, for breakfast, is to take a crap. Better call it bat-FECES-bathing. The bats living at Inner Space Caverns sometimes fly close to humans, and on rare occasions, they very very lightly collide with us. As I've seen these bats fly through a quarter-sized hole at full speed without slowing down, if they run into a human they're very likely doing this on-purpose. The downtown-Austin colony is protected by a fenced area but I live in Texas near the Round Rock/Pflugerville I-35 bat colony, which only got a fence fairly recently. Before then, yes, people liked to walk up the bridge to let the millions of emerging bats flutter past them. The bats did typicall contact people. Talzhemir —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.240.15.94 (talk) 10:19, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hipposideridae

This is a family mentioned in the German and Dutch wikipedias, apparently defined by Lydekker in 1891, that isn't on the list here. Is it missing or has it since been placed somewhere else in the taxonomy? Rigadoun (talk) 19:41, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Some experts ("lumpers") classify hipposiderid bats as members of the family Rhinolophidae, whereas others ("splitters") break hipposiderids out into their own family, the Hipposideridae. The first method (considering hipposiderids to be within the family Rhinolophidae) is the more traditional approach I believe, whereas recent techniques (e.g. molecular systematics) indicate that hipposiderids may be distinct enough to warrant elevation to family status. Either way, these two groups of bats are each others' closest relatives, so the choice of names and who to include where is something of a taxonomic-semantic issue. Tomwithanh 01:46, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Does bats leave their caves left way...

Is it true that bats leave their caves flying always the left way? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 193.92.81.83 (talk) 21:29, 22 January 2007 (UTC).

Never heard of that before. Dora Nichov 08:14, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

I think they'd have to leave the caves the right way if they're going to manage to get out ;) -JC 03:50, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

LOL. Dora Nichov 01:04, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] From Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science

Do bats only spiral left when they leave caves?

David Winkelaar

I did a nice long search on this piece of trivia, and it turns out that it has been asked and answered with silliness, many times. The big bat caves of North America always seem to have counter-clockwise exit spirals, but nobody has systematically confirmed it with every cave. There was even an unreferenced suggestion that they have different directions in the north and south hemispheres, just like bathtubs! (not!). --Zeizmic 01:11, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

The air in a cave tends to be at a different temperature than the air just outside. If this air is warmer than the outside air, it generates a thermal. One of the best ways for flying animals to gain altitude is to spiral around in a thermal -- and guess what happens if a swarm of bats don't all spiral around in the same direction? --Carnildo 22:13, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

This would make a nice addition to the article, if someone could find a reference. -- Beland 02:28, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What's this about vectors for pathogens?

"Bats are natural reservoirs or vectors for a large number of zoonotic pathogens including rabies, SARS, Henipavirus (ie. Nipah virus and Hendra virus), West Nile virus and possibly ebola virus."

Where are the references for this? Most mammals can carry rabies, so I think that's a given. But is there evidence of bats carrying SARS, West Nile, and ebola? Have there been instances when these viruses have been passed on to humans, and is it common enough to warrant being in this article? Sounds to me like this is just trying to give bats a bad name.

Nekopan 03:41, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

I’ve added references to this section. Bats are recognised as important vectors for many human pathogens. There is strong evidence that they the primary reservoir for rabies (preceding canine rabies) and a number of recently emerged pathogens, such as SARS and henipaviruses, originated from bats. Rhys 04:20, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

___

Vampirate: From what I understand bats are not more likely to transmit rabies than any other mammal, and in fact few cases are acturally caused by bat bites.

There's definitely some vandalism on this page. I don't know exactly how to deal with it, so I'll let the pros do it. Just pointing it out.

Per the CDC, the vast majority of rabies cases in the US in the period from 1990-2001 were caused by bats. I've added a reference. Of 36 cases, 27, or 75%, were contracted from bats. Of the nine remaining, two in Texas were contracted from either dogs or coyotes. The other seven were contracted from dog bites in foreign countries: Ghana, Haiti, India, Mexico (2), Nepal, and the Phillipines. My guess is that vaccinations of pets are either not required or not strictly enforced in these countries.

This does seem a little odd, because only 17% of reported animal cases in the US occur in bats. Raccoons make up the largest part of that population, with about 40% of the cases. However, raccoons are not stealthy, flying creatures capable of biting someone unnoticed while he or she sleeps. Bat bites are small, and even when noticed are often mistaken for insect bites, again per the CDC.--TychaBrahe 20:25, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bat gestation period?

I came here specifically looking for this info, but it's not part of the article. A quick search of google gives me http://members.fortunecity.com/anemaw/bat.htm which says 50-60 days although another site (http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du_bats.html) says 60-240 days although reading down to "breeding" it says 50-60 again. Another site explains this a little more clearly, at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Adventist_Youth_Honors_Answer_Book/Nature/Bats_-_Advanced ...which says it is between 44 days and 8 months dependant on species SmUX 13:03, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

I was giving lots of talks about bats for Bats Northwest (www.batsnorthwest.com) and the question came up about gestation. I was horrified, as a zoologist, to not know such a basic thing about the mammals that I had been so

[edit] Only mammals capable of flight?

Humans fly, perhaps it should say unaided flight, or include that notion in parantheses. 75.8.32.11 21:36, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't think humans can fly. Airplanes can fly, but they're not mammals... Otherwise, all animals can fly (on other flying animals - like a deer being carried by hundreds of pigeons or whatever other frightening imagery you'd like to picture) - I think this is an "it goes without saying" clause. -JC 23:02, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

Human cannot fly without a man-made machine to allow them to achieve flight. Birds can fly, and strictly speaking, are mammals (warm-blooded animals), so the statement is untrue. Should a change be made? Mjroots (talk) 18:29, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

No, because birds are not mammals. 'Mammal' does not simply mean 'warm blooded animal'. Anaxial (talk) 19:37, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Correct, mammals do not just mean to be warm-blooded there are various other characteristics.

--DavidD4scnrt (talk) 05:24, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

It was requested that this article be renamed but there was no consensus for it to be moved. --Stemonitis 06:33, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] False Vampire Bat confusion

The list of bat families includes this:

• Superfamily Rhinolophoidea
  • Megadermatidae (False vampires)

I followed the link to False vampires and found myself at Spectral Bat, which isn't a Megadermatidae at all. I changed the link to Ghost Bat, but it got reverted. I was thinking that a disambiguation page was in order for the term False Vampire, maybe to these pages:

• Ghost Bats are also known as the Australian False Vampire Bat, but are in the family Megadermatidae.
• Spectral Bats are also known as Linnaeus's False Vampire Bat, False Vampire Bat and Spectral Vampire Bat.
• Big-eared Wooly Bats are also known as Peter's Wooly False Vampire Bat.
• Some web pages describe Heart-nosed Bats as the African False Vampire (e.g. http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/62.htm)
• And there's the Lesser False Vampire Bat as well.

What do you think?

Also:

• Which of these would be meant by the term "Old world False Vampire"?
• Should bat pages have an uppercase "B" in bat? Some do (like all those above), some don't, like Bulldog bats, Fisherman bats and Leaf-nosed bats.

I should point out, I know nothing about bats! --Twirlip 09:02, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Well, the Ghost Bat, Heart-nosed Bat and Lesser False Vampire Bat are all members of the family Megadermatidae, so there is some point in calling that family "false vampire bats". The Spectral Bat and Big-eared Wooly Bat are phyllostomids and their most common English names do not include the word "vampire", so I think "false vampire bat" should be the title of the article about megadermatids, possibly with a "sea also" to Vampyrum spectrum, the Spectral Bat. An Old World False Vampire can be any megadermatid.

To answer your second question, species names are written in uppercase, while family and genus names are written in lowercase. So, "Spectral Bat", which is about the species Vampyrum spectrum, has a capital, but "leaf-nosed bat", which is about the family Phyllostomidae, does not. Ucucha 06:36, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] At least two known species of bat are cannibalistic, feeding on other bats

Cannibalism is eating members of the same species (as defined in Wikipedia). The two species of bat mentioned feed on other species of bats. I cannot find any reference to them eating members of their own species.

I suggest that this sentence should be changed to "at least two known species of bat feed on other bats ..."

Ophiuchus13 19:16, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] A secret legend of becoming a bat!

The legenf that You are going to read is never to be wroten on any type off paper before. Only few people heard it, and soon they dajd...

...Their corpses were to be found stretched across the miles, but no one ever seen the executor, ever. It was to be given* (die legend) from mouth to mouth thru all kind of generations of secret society of special care antifants**(reffer to Orr Middle).

This is how the bat was to be made by mother nature and her hobbits: Firstlee there was a tiny gray mouse. The mouse name is safetly secure under all kind of all kinds of the newest safe cryptological methods, that even chinese people from the far branch of hun's brench*** (is famous for easily breaking codes) never forawere. The mouse was fascinated in interest of having something between her arms and even both beefs**** (is not what U think pervert). She wanted so much that the passion take over her life, and made her and outsider of other sicks mices. They loved to laugh as she undoubtely was making another preparation for an invention that could keep her off the ground, and the failed project always landed in the puddle. The phantom became an obsession. She started to drop the equipment and climb up the triangulated cliff***** (not Richards) of 12 inches hight just too jump up with the wide spreaded arms and try to fly away with it's energetic coliberated moves.

Forsaken! The feculiar experiments made her uncommon in the most of the civilized wereld and her ankles were getting to the gone. But for the unaware consiusness off the others something have had started to grow between, even suprising the fixated mouse. It was the flying membrane. Suddenly after hart years of bat tries & reading tomes of roten books the mouse flew ewej for the first time.

Uncontroled device had it's dark sides <[the 3rd teeths became so f***in bick that it's searching for bleed]>.

DEEP WARNING! Don't You should not send it to any 10 person You know or have e-post adress! It will give a butterfly chain reaction effect and it's very bad virus for hardware of Your computer.

The legend is oryginal and nowhere to be fount. Jerry Stringer (not Sprintger) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.212.41.189 (talk) 20:33, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks you for coming up with an original chain letter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.77.21.240 (talk) 00:08, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Broken citation links

[edit] 1

I found the following citation in the "As vectors for pathogens" section with the target document no longer available on the CDC site. I am replacing this with an older document that covers a longer period of time; no revision to text appears to be necessary. (referring to this version)

Centers for Disease Control. Table 2 - Cases of rabies in human being in the United States, by circumstances of exposure and rabies virus variant, 1990–2001.

--User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 22:35, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 2

The following citation which appeared alongside references "cons" and "Messenger2002" in the "As vectors for pathgens" section contains a link that returns "The address you are trying to access is invalid." The citation has been removed without replacement. (referring to this version)

Human Rabies — Kentucky and Montana, 1996, May 9, 1997/Vol. 46/No. 18

--User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 22:51, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Who is skelotor

I found this skeleton today. I don't know what it is, I think it might be a bat. Does anyone know what kind of bat or what article I could put this pic in.. Cheers_Ad@m.J.W.C. (talk) 12:53, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't think so; I'd think a bat would have longer fingers than this animal. Ucucha 13:07, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I assume that you're in Australia, so I've got no experience with your animals. However, you should be able to ID it by it's teeth, those lower incisors are pretty interesting looking. Did you keep the animal? Plcoffey (talk) 16:55, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

No, it's not a bat. It's not a carnivore- no fangs. It's not a squirrel or a rat... It has a mouth full of almost all 'carnassial' ("shearing") teeth, both upper and lower. That's a marsupial trait. Based on the lower jaw, with 1 incisor, 5 carnassials, I'd say, it's a baby koala. http://www.boneclones.com/images/bc-66-lg.jpg Talzhemir —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.240.15.94 (talk) 10:46, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wording problem

At the end of the opening section is the sentence, "This role explains environmental concerns when a bat is introduced in a new setting." I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. Can someone please fix it? -Freekee (talk) 05:36, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Habitat

I think this article should contain some mention of bat habitats. For example, where are they found geographically? In all continents? In humid climates or warm climates? Where do they live when they aren't flying? Nests in trees? Caves?

Bats live in caves, roosts in trees and pretty much any climate.

I have no knowledge of bats, but I think this would be a worthy addition for someone to add to this article. -Rktur (talk) 21:50, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Bat Conservation International link needed here, and separate BCI article needed also

Would someone please add a link to the major bat conservation organization? It's Bat Conservation International (BCI), www.batcon.org, founded by Merlin Tuttle, about whom there is a Wikipedia article.

There is no article about BCI here, if someone would like to write one. There is enough information on the BCI web site to at least create a stub article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.72.65.62 (talk) 14:21, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Are bats capable of terrestrial locomotion?

Can bats walk on the ground using their legs? Or can they only move through the air with their wings? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.177.234.72 (talk) 18:04, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

I once saw one scampering across my lawn. But that is just my original research. Thincat (talk) 11:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

As far as I know, most are hardly able to walk, though they'd probably manage to walk a bit. However, the two species of the genus Cheiromeles, the naked bats of southeast Asia, can walk quite well.

Note that bats are a highly diverse order of well over 1000 species, so it's likely difficult to say much that is true for all of them. Ucucha 12:46, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Vampire bats can run at 2.5 miles per hour. It's not clear if the galloping gait is a conserved ability or an atavism (revival) of a primitive bat talent.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050323151446.htm ]]User:Talzhemir|Talzhemri]] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.240.15.94 (talk) 09:55, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Are bats truly disappearing?

I have heard that bats are disappearing presumably because of West Nile disease fears and the mass killing off of mosquitoes and I would like to know if there is any truth to that. It is supposedly an sign of severe environmental damage. Can anyone comment? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rss245 (talk • contribs) 15:01, 4 June 2008 (UTC)