1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,840 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbam here, You've seen one bat, but you most 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: definitely haven't seen them all. That's because after rodents, bats 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: make up the second largest order of mammals. There are 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: over nine hundred different species fluttering around, from a bumblebee 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: sized hognosed bat to gentle giants with wingspans of five 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: feet that's a meter and a half or longer. Most 8 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 1: bats eat insects, and often incopious amounts. Then you've got 9 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: your big game hunters, bats who have evolved strong enough 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 1: jaw muscles that they can prey on vertebrates such as fish, blizzards, 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: or birds. And of course, the blood drinking vampire bats 12 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: from Central and South America need no introduction. But not 13 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: all bats are carnivores or vampiric. About three hundred species 14 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: eat fruits and other plant products to survive, which works 15 00:00:57,640 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: out great for the rest of us because those flying 16 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: creatures really help the environment. One of the most important 17 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: families of bats is the Terrapotidae, also known as the 18 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: Old World fruit bats. They hang out in tropical and 19 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: subtropical parts of Africa, Eurasia, Australia and many Pacific islands. 20 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: Remember those gentle giants we mentioned above. Those would be 21 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: the flying foxes, which are enormous terrapotids that represent the 22 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: largest bats alive today. A species called the giant golden 23 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: crowned flying fox can weigh two and a half pounds 24 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: or about a kilo, which, trust us is big for 25 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: a bat. You may be relieved to hear that it 26 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: is a fruit eater or frugivore with the taste for figs. 27 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: For the article, this episode is based on How Stuffworks. 28 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: Spoke by email with biologist Liam maguire, an assistant professor 29 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: at Texas Tech University. He said terrapottoids eat primarily fruit 30 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: and nectar. For example, nectar from the flowers of eucalypt 31 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: trees is a very important food source for several species 32 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: of flying foxes in Australia, but tear potted diets can 33 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: also include other plants, pollen, leaves, and sometimes insects. Shoots, 34 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: bark and sap are also fair game. But hey, if 35 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: you think the name Old World fruit bats implies the 36 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: existence of New World fruit bats, you're right. Indeed, the 37 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: Americas have no shortage of winged fruit fanciers. The philus 38 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 1: Domidae is another large bat family, one that's distributed across 39 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,359 Speaker 1: the neotropics of North, South, and Central America plus the Caribbean. 40 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: While many species are committed insect hunters, dozens of these 41 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: animals incorporate plant matter into their diets. Depending on the 42 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,519 Speaker 1: bat in question, fruits, nectars, pollen, or seeds may be 43 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: fair game. How stuff works also spoke by email with 44 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: Nimberto Giannini, mammalogist and research associate at the American Museum 45 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: of Natural History. He said, frigiferous bats in both the 46 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,079 Speaker 1: Old World and the New World tropics eat a variety 47 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: of fruits that tend to be scented, relatively large, green 48 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 1: to yellow in color, and exposed away from branches and leaves. So, 49 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: for example, bananas, mangoes, figs, and dates are all favorite 50 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: foods for fruit bats. Those Old World terrapotods alone feed 51 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: on more than a thousand different plant species. Over two 52 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: thirds of these grow bats like to consume, and usually 53 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: this relationship has mutual benefits. Seeds swallowed by fruit bats 54 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: get released elsewhere when the animals poop. According to a 55 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: study from nineteen ninety nine, tropical bats in some parts 56 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: of Mexico distribute more seeds in this manner than fruit 57 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: eating birds do. After a forested place is devastated by wildfires, droughts, 58 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: or human activities, fruit bats help it bounce back. A 59 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: research suggests that a colony of some one hundred and 60 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: fifty two thousand African straw colored fruit bats can distribute 61 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: more than three hundred thousand seeds in a single night. 62 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: This could be enough to get the reforestation process started 63 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: across nearly two thousand acres or eight hundred hectares of land. 64 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: A flower and nectar eaters do their part as well. 65 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: Bats are pollinators for upward of five hundred and thirty 66 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 1: types of plants, such as pulsa trees, bananas, and dissorted cactuses. 67 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,359 Speaker 1: Then we have agave, a key ingredient in pequila and 68 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: sweet agave syrup. Migratory bats eat the nectar from their flowers. 69 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: In the process, the mammals spread agave pollen around cross 70 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: fertilizing the plants as they go worldwide. Echolocation is the 71 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,479 Speaker 1: system by which roughly a thousand species of bats find 72 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: food and avoid obstacles. Echolocation is a sound based navigational 73 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: strategy The process starts when an animal releases high frequency 74 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: sound waves through its nose or mouth. By carefully listening 75 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: for the echo of those sounds, the sender can decipher 76 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: a lot about its surroundings. That's how predatory bats track 77 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: down mo and mosquitoes in pitch black darkness. But unlike insects, 78 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: a piece of fruit can't fly away regardless, Giannini explained 79 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: quote all New World forgivorous bats use echolocation. This type 80 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: is called sophisticated laryngeal echolocation, and it's essentially a laryngeal 81 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: call emitted through the nostrils and modulated using a nose leaf. 82 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: Nose leaves are sort of pointed, leafy looking structures found 83 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: around the nasal openings on many bat species faces. In 84 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: the rest of the world, most fruit bats don't echo locate, 85 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 1: with a few interesting exceptions, Maguire said. Among the Terra 86 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: pot Day, there are bats in the genus Rascetis that 87 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: echo locate by clicking their tongues. This mode of echolocation 88 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: has often been considered primitive, but studies have shown that 89 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: their tongue click echolocation is quite sophisticated. Other Old World 90 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,919 Speaker 1: fruit bats make clicking noises with their wings. It's not 91 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,160 Speaker 1: echo location in the traditional sense, but echoes from those 92 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: clicks do help the animals get around and to aid 93 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: in their quest for vegetarian goodies. Many fruit bats around 94 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: the world have evolved a keen sense of smell, and 95 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: flying foxes possess great eyesight as well, so much for 96 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 1: the old myth the fats are blind. In today's episode 97 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: is based on the article fruit bats are the best 98 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: pollinators and suppliers of tequila on how stifforks dot com, 99 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: written by Mark Vancini. Brain Stuff is production of by 100 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: Heart Radio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is 101 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 102 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 103 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.