Fruit Bat

Fruit bats of Livingstone’s are only found in the Comoros, off the west coast of Madagascar. As their name implies, fruit bats eat a lot of fruit, though they will also eat some flowers and leaves. Fruit bats are not blind, and interestingly they use their eyes to help them identify the fruit amidst the leaves of the tree. They also possess good hearing and an incredible sense of smell and can smell a ripe fruit more than three miles away.

Members of Pteropus have the biggest fruit bats but P. rodricensis is a small member of this genus. Fruit Bats are just the mammals, in fact the only mammals who can fly (without an aeroplane!). The bones of a bat's wing are arranged in the same pattern to the bones, but by stretching skin between the digits they are made to fly. Livingstone’s fruit bats possess a wingspan of 1.5m making them one of the biggest fruit bats across the globe. Bats roost in trees, but Livingstone’s fruit bats scuffle since their forest habitat is vanishing.

                          
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Fruit Bat Names

There are different fruit bat names. There are between two and six well-recognized subfamilies of fruit bats: Cynopterinae, Epomophorinae, Harpionycterinae, Macroglossinae, Nyctimeninae, Pteropodinae and Rousettinae. However, the links among fruit bats are not resolved.

Fruit Bat Physical Characteristics

Fruit Bat Scientific Characteristics

Fruit Bat Description

Belonging to the family Pteropodidae, the Fruit Bat falls into the category of the Megabat and occasionally they are referred to as the Flying Fox in some locations. There are a number of variations in their size from one location to the next. Because of this differentiation these bats are often mistaken for many different types instead of being identified as the same.

For example, some Fruits Bats are only up to two inches long. Others though are above sixteen inches in length. Some of them just weigh an ounce or two while others weigh in at a few pounds. The overall wing length of the Fruit Bat can go more than 5 feet. These bats have big eyes and they also have amazing vision.

Quick Facts On Fruit Bat Appearance

• Fruit bats have a juvenile appearance having short, foxy or dog-like faces.

• They have short ears and strong jaws for tough-skinned fruit.

• Bats' (Chiroptera) wings are typically supported by 4 elongated fingers; however birds and the extinct pterosaur's wings are supported by a single finger and arm bones.

• Most fruit bats do not contain striking colors and patterns

• Bat Species (like Rodrigues fruit bats) having more vivid fur colors roost in trees or open shelters

• Fruit bats have wooly fur and sport Golden colored fur on head, neck and shoulders. Golden color may stretch down back; and dark brown elsewhere.

• Wings are black and not furred

• Bats Molt once a year.

• Males fruit bats are slightly larger than females (Sexual Dimorphism)

• No considerable difference in weight between sexes

Other Physical Characteristics & Functions

• Are short of complex echolocation; navigate with big eyes, acute hearing, excellent sense of smell

• Ears are short of tragus, the fleshy display at the border of the ear opening, existing in other bat families

• Nose pad is not skillfully specialized like many microchiropteran bats

• Second digit consist of a claw; while other living bats only have claws on first digit

• Have black eyes and excellent vision having visual acuity same as that of a cat

• For some Pteropus species, photoreceptor cells permit restricted color vision; they can see red.

• Receptors in the retina are highly sensitive to UltraViolet light (only other mammals established to have this ability are some rodents).

• Pteropid bats consist of 34 teeth; elongated teeth and flat for chewing fruit

• Incisors present in bats are small and Canines are present in all bats

• Milk teeth are highly specialized (little, very sharp with hooked spicules) for holding on to mother in flight.

• Triangular external ears; not as composite as those of microbats

• Stomach is huge and complex, and small intestine is long and looped

• fruit bat eating Offers area for absorption of fruit nutrients

Fruit Bat Anatomy

The Fruit Bat is said to have an excellent overall vision of all bat species. They use their vision in combination with their sense of smell so that they are able to locate their food sources. These senses also cater to help them avoid perilous situations. They are a massive type of bat and they are said to be among the most distinctive of the above 1,200 species that have so far been determined.

They have some sharp teeth that enable them to penetrate the skin of the fruits. They also possess quite long tongues that unroll when they are feeding. When a fruit bat is not eating the tongue rolls up back. It is tucked away internally around the rib cage instead of remaining in the mouth.

Based on location, the shape of the wings on Fruit Bats can be literally varying. Many experts believe that this kind of variance in anatomy has to do with the fact that they survive in different regions and have different kinds of fruit trees that they eat from. The wings may be a certain style to enable compensation for wind and other factors in their natural environment.

Fruit Bat Evolution

Given that most species of bats eat insects, the Fruit Bat is one that people are most interested in. It is believed that fruit bat eating turned in such a manner in order to allow them to survive. Circumstances could have sanctioned them deciding to eat a different kind of food source for the purpose of compensating for not enough insects being around. The evolution mechanism though is one which can be very complicated.

Fruit Bat Behavior

The very long wings of the Fruit Bat do much more than just enabling it to fly. They also allow the fruit bats to stay warm while roosting. They wrap around in those wings to preserve their body heat. They reside in colonies that are very huge in size since they feel safer with numbers.

Inside of each colony of Fruit Bats though you can find different sub colonies. Each colony consists of one male and about eight females. They form very close connections with their sub groups.

Fruit Bat Behavior Habitat And Distribution

There are locations worldwide where the Fruit Bat is able to successfully thrive. They tend to live in regions which offer them abundant food. Where you find dense forest areas with plenty of fruit trees, you can be confident they are in profusion. Most of them reside in warmer climates where they can reap benefits of various fruits that will grow throughout the year.

They may have to travel long distances during specified times of the year to find food. They make the journey back to their roost before the sun appears. Sometimes such attempts don’t leave the Fruit Bat much time at all to locate lots of food though.

When the Fruit Bat roosts in the daytime, they do so high up in the trees. This provides them darkness and it also shields them from a number of predators. They may hide in dark spaces and services as well. They will essentially stay close to bodies of water.

Did You know

• Humans that need the fruit from these trees also don’t want the Fruit Bats around. However, it is significant for humans to realize that the Fruit Bat aids to make more fruit by distributing the seeds. When they fly around they will spit them out far and wide.

• The ancestor of all living fruit bats survived about 31 million years ago.

• They possibly split off from other bats about 58 million years ago.

• The family Pteropodidae comprises 197 recorded species of fruit bat as of 2018.

• Megabats essentially survive up to 30 years both in the wild and in captivity.

• These big bats mostly give birth to one offspring at a time.

• Fruit bats live in tree branches and are majorly active at night or at twilight, but some species are active during the day.

• Some megabats also roost by holding on the walls of caves.

• Some species of fruit bats are migratory i.e. they travel places

• Megabats come from the family Pteropodidae, which is a branch of the order of bats (Chiroptera). They are also the element of the suborder Megachiroptera.

• Fruit bats are presently prominent in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World, which includes Africa, Eurasia, and Oceania.

• The fruit bat family possibly emerged from Australasia and dispersed across the Old World.

• Their chief predators are birds of prey, snakes, lizards, and humans.

• Megabats consist of claws on their thumbs and forefingers.

• They use their claws to climb rough edges and earn access to food that’s unreachable by flight.

In some regions the Fruit Bat lives very close to humans. Baby fruit bats cannot fly; they feed on their milk. The lactation period essentially ranges from 7 weeks to 4 months. Some fruit bats typically get their names from their appearance, which has a similarity with foxes.