The only mammals capable of true, sustained flight, on wings of skin stretched over long fingers. With at least 1,500 species, bats make up about a fifth of all mammal species.
This entry covers a whole group, so the answers describe a typical member. For a specific one, see Fruit bat, Vampire bat.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?Insects only
Many bats eat insects, but most of the rest eat fruit or nectar, and vampire bats feed on blood.
Dangerous?Can be
Bats carry diseases such as rabies, which makes handling them risky.
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
Most bats are nocturnal, roosting by day in caves and other shelters.
Hibernates?Yes
Bats in temperate regions hibernate or go into torpor; tropical bats don’t.
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Bats are eaten in parts of Asia and Africa and on some Pacific and Caribbean islands.
At a glance
Found inWorldwide
HabitatForest, Rainforest, Towns, Grassland
ColoursBrown, Black
SizeTiny
Length29–33 mm (Kitti’s hog-nosed bat) upward
Weight2 g (Kitti’s hog-nosed bat) to 1.5 kg (flying fox)
Legs2
Covered inFur
Lives incolonies
Lives for20–30 years
Can fly
In the wild
- What it eats
- Insects for many species, fruit or nectar for most of the rest, and a few eat other animals or blood.
Did you know
The only mammal that genuinely flies rather than glides.
The largest bats, the flying foxes, have wingspans of up to 1.6 m.
Often confused with
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