Can Bats Walk?

http://www.sophisticatededge.com/can-bats-walk.html

Summary: Some bat species CAN walk-the Desmodus rotundus, can actually run. The researchers found that when put to a treadmill test they could. . .

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Author: Gabrielle Marks

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Can Bats Walk?

Yes, many species of bats can walk.

Of the nearly 1,000 species of bats worldwide, many are able to walk but most do so clumsily and rarely take advantage of the ability.  Instead, most bats rely on their flight abilities to travel and capture prey using their natural sense of echolocation. Similar to sonar used in ships, the bat sends out high-pitched signals which carry through the air bouncing back to the bat's ear after hitting a target.  The bat can then ascertain the size and location of the object.  

The Unique Vampire Bat

Unlike any other species of bat, the vampire bat is an excellent walker and uses this ability to land near its prey and slowly walk over to it.  Native to temperate zones, the vampire bat subsists solely on blood preying on livestock and wild animals.  The bat usually approaches its prey while it's sleeping and uses the ability to walk to silently approach it from the ground.  The bat's nose is equipped with a heat sensor that allows it to find the spot where the blood is closest to the surface of the skin.  It will then make an incision in the skin and begin sucking the blood.  Because the bat approaches the prey from the ground and are quite small in size, often the prey will sleep right through the feeding.

This Bat Actually Runs

Of the three types of vampire bats, researchers at Cornell University discovered that the common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus, can actually run. The researchers found that when put to a treadmill test they could advance from a walk to a run in a very short time.   Interestingly, these running bats did not use their hind legs to power propulsion like most other animals, but instead use their powerful wings to propel forward, the movement similar to that of a gorilla. 

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Cornell Chronicle Online"Cornell News: vampire bats run"http://www.news.cornell.edu

University of Pittsburgh"The illustrated story of the Vampire bat"http://www.pitt.edu

Article Citation

"Can Bats Walk?." Sophisticated Edge. N.p., n.d. Web. . <http://www.sophisticatededge.com/can-bats-walk.html>.  

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