Are bats birds or animals?

Beasts are the only small mammals that can fly in the air.

The bats of the suborder Macrobatus have good vision and large eyes, and mainly rely on vision to identify objects; members of the suborder Microbats usually have degraded vision, small eyes, and mainly rely on echo to identify objects, and some types of facial evolution Special structures are developed to increase sonar reception, such as nose lobes, multiple wrinkles on the face and complex large ears.

They are nocturnal, usually in groups, and can number up to a million. Some species in temperate areas will migrate before winter. They mainly inhabit caves, tree holes, and forests, and breed once a year. The pregnancy lasts about 2-6 months, and one child is born at a time.

Many bats distributed in the tropics and subtropics feed on the fruits of plants, and they eat a lot.

About 70% of bats prey on insects. They usually emit ultrasonic waves to explore their prey and mostly hunt in the air. Bats are very agile in hunting prey. Through high-speed photography, it was discovered that some bats hunt directly with their mouths, some use their wings to intercept prey into their mouths, and some use their tail membranes to scoop bugs into their mouths like a spoon. There are many ways to hunt. Bats are very insectivorous and can eat about one-third of their own weight in insects every night.

There are very few carnivorous bats. There may be two species of false vampire bats that often prey on rodents, small birds, frogs and lizards. At present, little is known about their behavior, and it is impossible to determine whether they are actively hunting. .

The only fish-eating bats are the Mexican rabbit-lipped bat, the Sonoran myotis and the big-footed myotis. Fish-eating bats are characterized by long legs and large feet with sharp hook-shaped claws on their toes. When hunting, it stays close to the water, uses ultrasonic waves to detect the waves caused by small fish, and waits for an opportunity to catch the prey with its feet.

Nectar-feeding bats are similar to hummingbirds in their living habits. They have evolved characteristics suitable for sucking honey, such as a long and thin snout, a suddenly reduced lower jaw, and a slender and malleable tongue. While sucking honey, bats also pollinate plants, especially those that bloom at night (such as gourd trees, cacti, etc.).

Origin and Evolution

The Eocene bat wing membrane is already similar to modern types, and its origin can be traced back to an earlier period. Chiroptera may have originated from the most primitive eutherians similar to the insectivores.

There used to be some theories that the two suborders of Chiroptera had different evolutionary lines: Megachiroptera is very closely related to primates, and Microchiroptera is related to insectivores. close.

However, current DNA analysis suggests that the two suborders of bats evolved from the same source. It was even discovered that some Microchiropteran bats are more closely related to some Macrochiropteran bats, so the taxa closer to the Pteroptera family were reclassified into the suborder Yinoptera, while the taxa closer to the Bat family were reclassified. For the Yang Chiroptera suborder. And it is believed that both suborders evolved from the same ancestor of flying birds.

Chiropterans are covered with thin and tough wing membranes between the limbs and tail and can fly like birds. They have some characteristics that other groups do not have. These characteristics include specialized elongated phalanges and cortical wing membranes connecting them. The thumbs of the forelimbs and the toes of the hind limbs have claws for grasping. The sternum has a keel process similar to that of birds. It is beneficial to the chest muscles and has developed hearing.