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Ten amazing bats

Most bats prefer to avoid daytime predators and competition with birds. These night fliers navigate by listening to the echoes of their own high-pitched squeaks. Wrinkly skin around their ears helps to channel the returning sounds.

03 ■ The Australian ghost bat

(below) swoops down on frogs, lizards, birds, and smali mammals. It wraps its wings around the prey as it delivers a killer bite, then flies back to its roost to eat.

It usually roosts in colonies in caves, old minę tunnels, or in deep cracks in rocks.

01 ■ A long-eared bat relies on its huge, concertina ears to hear the gentle beating of a moth’s wings. The bat flies face down, so the tips of the ears point forwards. When resting, the bat allows its ears to curl down.

04: The fisherman bat

(above) of Central and South America uses its sąueaky sonar (sound navigation) to scan the surfaces of rivers, lakes, and seas for ripples madę by fish. Then it swoops down and snatches its prey (up to 2.8 in/ 7 cm long) in its impressive, hooked claws.

02 ■ Fringe-lipped bats circle ponds, listening for telltale croaks. Once they locate a frog, they zoom down, grab it, then return to their perch to feed. The bats can tell poisonous frogs from nonpoisonous ones by their calls.

05 ■ In New Zealand,

the lesser short-tailed bat

feeds on the forest floor. While it is clambering around looking for insects or fallen fruit, it folds each wing inside a leathery “pocket” where it won’t get damaged. This frees up its arms for walking on like front legs.