1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bolgabam. Here. You may have seen 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: one bat, but you most definitely haven't seen them all. 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: That's because after rodents, bats make up the second largest 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: order of animals. There are over nine hundred different species 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 1: fluttering around, from a bumblebee sized hog nosed bat to 7 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: gentle giants with wingspans of five feet that's one and 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:33,840 Speaker 1: a half meters or longer. Most bats eat insects, often 9 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: in copious amounts, and then you've got your big game hunters, 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: bats who have evolved strong enough jaw muscles that they 11 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: can kill off vertebrate prey such as fish, lizards, or birds. 12 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: And of course, the blood drinking vampire bats from Central 13 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: and South America need no introduction. But not all bats 14 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: are carnivores or vampiric. About three hundred species eat fruits 15 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: and other plants to survive, which works out great for 16 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: the rest of us because those flying creatures really help 17 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: the environment. One of the most important families of bats 18 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: is the terra Potidae, also known as the Old World 19 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: fruit bats. They hang out in tropical and subtropical parts 20 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: of Africa, Eurasia, Australia and many Pacific islands. I remember 21 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: those gentle giants we mentioned above. Those would be the 22 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,960 Speaker 1: flying foxes enormous terra pottids, who represent the largest bats 23 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: alive today. A species called the giant golden crowned flying 24 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: fox can weigh two and a half pounds that's over 25 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: a kilo. It's a fruit eater of frugivore with a 26 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: taste for fix for the article This episode is based 27 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: on How Stuff Works. Spoke by email with biologist Liam McGuire, 28 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: an assistant professor at Texas Tech University. He said, Tea 29 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: pottids eat primarily fruit and nectar. For example, nectar from 30 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: the flowers of eucalypt trees is a very important source 31 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: for several species of flying foxes in Australia. But terrapottic 32 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: diets can also include other plants, pollen, leaves, and sometimes insects. 33 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: And now you might be thinking that the name Old 34 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 1: World fruit bats implies the existence of New World fruit bats, 35 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: and indeed the Americas have no shortage of these creatures. 36 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: The Philus domide is another large bat family, a one 37 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: that's distributed across the neo tropics of North, South and 38 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: Central America plus the Caribbean. While many species are committed 39 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: insect hunters, dozens of these animals incorporate plant matter into 40 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: their diets, and, depending on the batting question, fruits, nectars, pollen, 41 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: or seeds may be fair game. Housta Works also spoke 42 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: by email with Neberico Giannini, a mammologist and research associate 43 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: at the American Museum of Natural History. He said, frygivorous 44 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 1: bats in both the Old World and the New World 45 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: tropics eat a variety of fruits that tend to be scented, 46 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: relatively large, green to yellow in color, and exposed away 47 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: from branches and leaves. Bananas, mangoes, figs, and bates are 48 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: all favorite foods for fruit bats. The Old World terra 49 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: pottids alone feed on more than one thousand different plant species, 50 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: and most of these sevent grow fruits that the bats 51 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: like to consume. Other plants may attract terra potted visitors 52 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: because of their flowers, leaves, nectars, and sap shoots and 53 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: tree bark are fair game as well. Usually the relationship 54 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: has mutual benefits. Seeds swallowed by fruit bats get released 55 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: somewhere else when the animals poop. According to study, Tropical 56 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: bats in some parts of Mexico distribute more seeds in 57 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: this manner than fruit eating birds do, and after a 58 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: forested places devastated by wildfires, droughts, or human activities, fruit 59 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: bats help it bounce back. A research suggests that a 60 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: colony of a hundred and fifty two thousand African straw 61 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: colored fruit bats can distribute more than three hundred thousand 62 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: seeds in one night. This could be enough to get 63 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: the reforestation process started across some two thousand acres or 64 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: eight hundred hectares of land. Flower and nectar eaters do 65 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,279 Speaker 1: their part as well. The bats are pollinators for upward 66 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: of five hundred thirty types of plants such as palsa trees, bananas, 67 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: and assorted cactuses. And then we have agave, a key 68 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,479 Speaker 1: ingredient in tequila. A genus of migratory bats eat the 69 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: nectar from their flowers. In the process, these mammals spread 70 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 1: a gave a pollen around cross fertilizing the plants as 71 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:46,239 Speaker 1: they go. Worldwide, roughly a thousand species of bats find 72 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:51,600 Speaker 1: food and avoid obstacles easing echolocation. Echolocation is a sound 73 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: based navigating strategy. The process starts when an animal releases 74 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: high frequency sound waves through the nose or mouth, and 75 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: by carefully listening for an echo, the sender can decipher 76 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: a lot about its surroundings. That's how some predatory bats 77 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: track down moths and mosquitoes in pitch black darkness. Unlike insects, 78 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: though a piece of fruit can't fly away regardless, Ginnini said, 79 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: all New World frugivorous bats use echolocation. This type is 80 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 1: called sophisticated laryngeal echolocation, and it's essentially a laryngeal call 81 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: emitted through the nostrils and modulated using a nose leaf. 82 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: Nose leaves are weird structures found around the nasal openings 83 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: of many bat species. Meanwhile, most Old World fruit bats 84 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: do not echolocate, with a few interesting exceptions, McGuire explained. 85 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: Among the Terrapodidae, there are bats that echolocate by clicking 86 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: their tongues. This mode of echolocation has often been considered primitive, 87 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: but studies have shown that their tongue click echolocation is 88 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: quite sophisticated. It. In addition, some Old World fruit bats 89 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: make clicking noises with their wings. It's not at a 90 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 1: location in the traditional sense, but echoes from those clicks 91 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 1: help the animals get around to aid in their quest 92 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: for vegetarian goodies. Many fruit bats have evolved a keen 93 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 1: sense of smell of flying foxes possess great eyesight as well, 94 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: so much for the old myth that bats are blind. 95 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,720 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article fruit bats are 96 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: the best pollinators and suppliers of tequila on House to 97 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 1: works dot Com, written by Mark Vancini. A brain Stuff 98 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:39,600 Speaker 1: is production of by Heart Radio and partnership with how 99 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. 100 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts from my heart Radio visit the heart 101 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 102 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: favorite shows.