WEBVTT - How Do Fruit Bats Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbam here, You've seen one bat, but you most

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<v Speaker 1>definitely haven't seen them all. That's because after rodents, bats

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<v Speaker 1>make up the second largest order of mammals. There are

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<v Speaker 1>over nine hundred different species fluttering around, from a bumblebee

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<v Speaker 1>sized hognosed bat to gentle giants with wingspans of five

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<v Speaker 1>feet that's a meter and a half or longer. Most

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<v Speaker 1>bats eat insects, and often incopious amounts. Then you've got

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<v Speaker 1>your big game hunters, bats who have evolved strong enough

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<v Speaker 1>jaw muscles that they can prey on vertebrates such as fish, blizzards,

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<v Speaker 1>or birds. And of course, the blood drinking vampire bats

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<v Speaker 1>from Central and South America need no introduction. But not

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<v Speaker 1>all bats are carnivores or vampiric. About three hundred species

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<v Speaker 1>eat fruits and other plant products to survive, which works

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<v Speaker 1>out great for the rest of us because those flying

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<v Speaker 1>creatures really help the environment. One of the most important

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<v Speaker 1>families of bats is the Terrapotidae, also known as the

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<v Speaker 1>Old World fruit bats. They hang out in tropical and

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<v Speaker 1>subtropical parts of Africa, Eurasia, Australia and many Pacific islands.

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<v Speaker 1>Remember those gentle giants we mentioned above. Those would be

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<v Speaker 1>the flying foxes, which are enormous terrapotids that represent the

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<v Speaker 1>largest bats alive today. A species called the giant golden

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<v Speaker 1>crowned flying fox can weigh two and a half pounds

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<v Speaker 1>or about a kilo, which, trust us is big for

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<v Speaker 1>a bat. You may be relieved to hear that it

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<v Speaker 1>is a fruit eater or frugivore with the taste for figs.

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<v Speaker 1>For the article, this episode is based on How Stuffworks.

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<v Speaker 1>Spoke by email with biologist Liam maguire, an assistant professor

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<v Speaker 1>at Texas Tech University. He said terrapottoids eat primarily fruit

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<v Speaker 1>and nectar. For example, nectar from the flowers of eucalypt

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<v Speaker 1>trees is a very important food source for several species

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<v Speaker 1>of flying foxes in Australia, but tear potted diets can

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<v Speaker 1>also include other plants, pollen, leaves, and sometimes insects. Shoots,

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<v Speaker 1>bark and sap are also fair game. But hey, if

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<v Speaker 1>you think the name Old World fruit bats implies the

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<v Speaker 1>existence of New World fruit bats, you're right. Indeed, the

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<v Speaker 1>Americas have no shortage of winged fruit fanciers. The philus

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<v Speaker 1>Domidae is another large bat family, one that's distributed across

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<v Speaker 1>the neotropics of North, South, and Central America plus the Caribbean.

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<v Speaker 1>While many species are committed insect hunters, dozens of these

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<v Speaker 1>animals incorporate plant matter into their diets. Depending on the

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<v Speaker 1>bat in question, fruits, nectars, pollen, or seeds may be

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<v Speaker 1>fair game. How stuff works also spoke by email with

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<v Speaker 1>Nimberto Giannini, mammalogist and research associate at the American Museum

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<v Speaker 1>of Natural History. He said, frigiferous bats in both the

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<v Speaker 1>Old World and the New World tropics eat a variety

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<v Speaker 1>of fruits that tend to be scented, relatively large, green

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<v Speaker 1>to yellow in color, and exposed away from branches and leaves. So,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, bananas, mangoes, figs, and dates are all favorite

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<v Speaker 1>foods for fruit bats. Those Old World terrapotods alone feed

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<v Speaker 1>on more than a thousand different plant species. Over two

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<v Speaker 1>thirds of these grow bats like to consume, and usually

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<v Speaker 1>this relationship has mutual benefits. Seeds swallowed by fruit bats

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<v Speaker 1>get released elsewhere when the animals poop. According to a

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<v Speaker 1>study from nineteen ninety nine, tropical bats in some parts

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<v Speaker 1>of Mexico distribute more seeds in this manner than fruit

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<v Speaker 1>eating birds do. After a forested place is devastated by wildfires, droughts,

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<v Speaker 1>or human activities, fruit bats help it bounce back. A

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<v Speaker 1>research suggests that a colony of some one hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>fifty two thousand African straw colored fruit bats can distribute

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<v Speaker 1>more than three hundred thousand seeds in a single night.

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<v Speaker 1>This could be enough to get the reforestation process started

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<v Speaker 1>across nearly two thousand acres or eight hundred hectares of land.

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<v Speaker 1>A flower and nectar eaters do their part as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Bats are pollinators for upward of five hundred and thirty

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<v Speaker 1>types of plants, such as pulsa trees, bananas, and dissorted cactuses.

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<v Speaker 1>Then we have agave, a key ingredient in pequila and

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<v Speaker 1>sweet agave syrup. Migratory bats eat the nectar from their flowers.

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<v Speaker 1>In the process, the mammals spread agave pollen around cross

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<v Speaker 1>fertilizing the plants as they go worldwide. Echolocation is the

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<v Speaker 1>system by which roughly a thousand species of bats find

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<v Speaker 1>food and avoid obstacles. Echolocation is a sound based navigational

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<v Speaker 1>strategy The process starts when an animal releases high frequency

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<v Speaker 1>sound waves through its nose or mouth. By carefully listening

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<v Speaker 1>for the echo of those sounds, the sender can decipher

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<v Speaker 1>a lot about its surroundings. That's how predatory bats track

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<v Speaker 1>down mo and mosquitoes in pitch black darkness. But unlike insects,

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<v Speaker 1>a piece of fruit can't fly away regardless, Giannini explained

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<v Speaker 1>quote all New World forgivorous bats use echolocation. This type

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<v Speaker 1>is called sophisticated laryngeal echolocation, and it's essentially a laryngeal

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<v Speaker 1>call emitted through the nostrils and modulated using a nose leaf.

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<v Speaker 1>Nose leaves are sort of pointed, leafy looking structures found

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<v Speaker 1>around the nasal openings on many bat species faces. In

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of the world, most fruit bats don't echo locate,

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<v Speaker 1>with a few interesting exceptions, Maguire said. Among the Terra

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<v Speaker 1>pot Day, there are bats in the genus Rascetis that

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<v Speaker 1>echo locate by clicking their tongues. This mode of echolocation

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<v Speaker 1>has often been considered primitive, but studies have shown that

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<v Speaker 1>their tongue click echolocation is quite sophisticated. Other Old World

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<v Speaker 1>fruit bats make clicking noises with their wings. It's not

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<v Speaker 1>echo location in the traditional sense, but echoes from those

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<v Speaker 1>clicks do help the animals get around and to aid

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<v Speaker 1>in their quest for vegetarian goodies. Many fruit bats around

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<v Speaker 1>the world have evolved a keen sense of smell, and

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<v Speaker 1>flying foxes possess great eyesight as well, so much for

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<v Speaker 1>the old myth the fats are blind. In today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on the article fruit bats are the best

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<v Speaker 1>pollinators and suppliers of tequila on how stifforks dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by Mark Vancini. Brain Stuff is production of by

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

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<v Speaker 1>to your favorite shows.