Creature Feature Encyclopedia: Mammalia

Giant Indian Fruit Bat Pteropus giganteus

Bats are the only mammals capable of actually flying like birds. They do not have feathers, but they do have movable leathery wings which are attached to extended finger bones. Fruit Bats are the largest of bats, and the wingspan of some species may reach six feet. Fruit Bats are sometimes called flying foxes because of their large eyes, tall ears and long, pointed snouts. Most bats navigate in the night by echolocation. Fruit Bats, however, depend on their acute sense of smell and vision to find food in the dark. These bats are native to subtropical and tropical rainforests, feasting on succulent fruits and blossoms perpetually produced in these regions. Fruit Bats often eat the seeds with the fruit a d deposit the seeds in other parts of the forest. Because of this, these bats are crucial to the regeneration of tropical forests.

~A Fly in the Sky © 1996