Everything you wanted to know about bats, but were too busy (decorating for Halloween) to ask.
Before you head out trick-or-treating this Halloween, get acquainted with the humble bat, one of the world's most misunderstood creatures.
From swimming through the air to almost outliving Elvis Presley, bats have a few surprises up their sleeves. And their association with Dracula isn't quite what you might think. UNSW palaeontologist and ancient bat expert Emeritus Professor Suzanne Hand has helped us put together 10 things you probably didn't know about bats.
And if you were a bat, which one would you be? Take our fun interactive quiz at the end of the article on the UNSW newsroom website to find out.
1. One in five mammal species is a bat
Bats make up 21% of all living mammal species, with more than 1500 species worldwide. This puts them second only to rodents - the rats, mice and other furry creatures that don't exactly enjoy universal popularity either.
Put another way, there are more species of mammals that hang upside down than there are species that walk around on hooves.
2. Bats swim through the air
Never mind flapping, bats have a flying technique that resembles the butterfly stroke in swimming, propelling themselves through the air with wings that are essentially 'hands' with elongated fingers.
But where birds - the only other vertebrates today capable of powered flight - have feathers, bats have a thin membrane of skin. It's stretched over their delicate finger-bones, allowing them to make remarkably precise adjustments in flight.
3. Blind as a bat? They can see just fine, thanks
Contrary to the popular saying, bats aren't actually blind. Many have excellent eyesight, especially at night, while flying foxes are equipped with daylight vision and a highly developed sense of smell that's tuned to fruit odours.
But many bats have another trick: echolocation, their own built-in radar system. They emit high-frequency sounds from either the mouth or nose, and listen to the echoes bouncing off objects to navigate and locate prey in darkness.
Bats aren't alone in developing echolocation, whales and small mammmals such as tenrecs, shrews, dormice use it. Even vision-impaired humans can learn it. But bats are the only ones to combine this with powered flight.
4. Some bats are smaller than your thumb. Others have wingspans of 1.8 metres
The tiny bumblebee bat of Thailand and Myanmar weighs just two grams, about as much as half a teaspoon of sugar, making it one of the smallest mammals on Earth.
At the other end of the scale, some flying foxes can weigh around 1.5 kilograms and have wingspans approaching 1.8 metres. That's a 750-fold difference in weight, and a wingspan wider than most humans' arm spans.
5. No bats, no tequila
Next time you're enjoying a mango, banana or avocado, give a quiet thank you to bats. Without these mammals pollinating them over millions of years, these fruits may not have evolved into the supermarket varieties we rely on today.
Bats are important pollinators and seed dispersers for hundreds of plant species, including agave, the plant used to make tequila. They also help spread the seeds of cacao, the source of chocolate.
And they don't just help grow food. Insect-eating bat species devour enormous quantities of agricultural pests, saving farmers billions of dollars a year.
6. Bats were Australian before Australia was Australia
Australia's oldest known bat fossil, Australonycteris clarkae, dates back about 55 million years, when Australia was still connected to Antarctica as part of Gondwana.
That means bats were already living here long before Australia became the isolated continent we know today.
And there's a UNSW connection: Emeritus Professor Suzanne Hand was among the researchers who described this ancient bat, discovered in Murgon, southeastern Queensland.
"Australia's Australonycteris clarkae is among the oldest bats in the world, and demonstrates just how long bats have been part of Australian ecosystem," she says.
"The oldest Australian bats are in fact the same age as the oldest Australian marsupials.
"From what we now understand about the early history of this enormously successful group of mammals, bats first took flight in Europe and were then able to rapidly colonise every continent."
7. Not all bats hang upside down
For most bats, hanging upside down is practically effortless. Specialised tendons in their feet allow them to grip a perch without continuously contracting their muscles. Hanging also makes it easier to launch into flight: they can simply let go and drop into the air.
But not all bats do it. Some species, including Spix's disk-winged bat, roost head-up using tiny suction cups on their wrists and ankles.
And flying foxes have another trick. When nature calls, they can hang by their thumbs, turning themselves upright to avoid a rather unpleasant shower.
8. One bat almost outlived Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley lived to 42. So did a tiny bat from Siberia which is the oldest recorded bat.
Scientists recorded the bat's remarkable age in 2006, setting a longevity record that defied expectations for such a small mammal.
Generally, smaller mammals have shorter lifespans. A house mouse, for example, might live only two years, yet some bats of comparable size can survive for more than 30.
Scientists are still trying to understand how they manage it.
9. Bats could teach the wellness industry a thing or two
Bats can harbour some viruses that cause serious illness in other mammals without becoming ill themselves.
Their unusual immune systems have fascinated scientists, who are investigating whether bats might offer clues to fighting infectious diseases, cancer and even ageing.
Researchers suspect that bats' ability to control inflammation could be one reason they tolerate certain viruses so well. It may also help explain their extraordinary longevity.
But bats aren't immune to every disease, and scientists are still working out exactly how their defences operate.
10. Vampire bats were named after vampires, not the other way around
Vampire bats are real. They live in Central and South America, where they feed on the blood of other animals.
But they didn't inspire Europe's vampire legends. Those stories were already centuries old when Spanish explorers encountered blood-feeding bats in the Americas during the 16th century.
The explorers named the animals after the mythical vampires of European folklore. As tales of real flying bloodsuckers spread back to Europe, bats became increasingly associated with the legendary creatures.
So Dracula owes his bat connection to a case of mistaken chronology.
• Click this link to do UNSW's interactive quiz to find your inner bat (scroll to end of article).
