Bats in Question: The Smithsonian Answer BookSeeking to dispel the myths associated with these remarkable creatures and arguing far their key role in a balanced ecosystem, Bats in Question covers all aspects of bat biology in a practical question-and-answer format. Describing where bats live, how they use echolocation to navigate, and even why they hang upside down, the book also gives the conservation status of all 925 bat species. Don E. Wilson traces the evolution of bats and shows their remarkable diversity by describing each of the major groups in terms of their different body structures and habitats. He also sheds light on bats complex social systems, extraordinary variation in size, and food preferences that encompass plants, insects, and mammals. The book also explores cultural attitudes about bats - telling how, until recently, bats had been relegated to the world of vampires and how they have emerged to take their place in public awareness as important and fascinating members of our ecosystems. Illustrated with striking color photographs, this book invites both children and adults to better acquaint themselves with bats in order to understand the need to maintain viable populations of them in a rapidly shrinking natural world. |
Contents
How Do Bats Differ from Birds? | 14 |
How Fast Can Bats Fly? | 20 |
Are All Bats Brown? | 23 |
Copyright | |
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America animals areas Artibeus assessment No assessment assessment Potentially vulnerable assessment Stable Stable bat biologists bat Lesser bat No assessment bat Potentially vulnerable bat Stable BATS FLY big-eared bat birds Brazilian free-tailed bat caves colonies D. E. Wilson ears echolocation epauletted bat Stable epauletted fruit bat Epomophorus feed Figure flight flower flying fox food habits foraging fruit bat Stable Genus groups hibernation horseshoe bat insects Jamaican fruit bat leaf-nosed bat little brown bats long-eared bat long-tongued bat mammals mastiff bat megabats Megachiroptera microbats Microchiroptera myotis nectar numbers Phyllostomidae pipistrelle pollination Potentially vulnerable Potentially Potentially vulnerable Stable predators Pteropus rabies roundleaf bat sac-winged bat Scientific Name serotine sheath-tailed bat short-tailed bat slit-faced bat species of bats Stable No assessment Stable Potentially vulnerable Stable Stable Stable studies Tadarida Tent-Making Bats Thyroptera tomb bat trees tropical tube-nosed bat vampire bat Vampyrum vulnerable No assessment vulnerable Potentially vulnerable wings woolly bat yellow bat