What Adaptations Do Bats Have To Enable Them To Fly?
The genus of bats is Chiroptera, Latin for “hand wing.” While other mammals, fish, and reptiles are said to “fly,” they actually glide. Only bats achieve true, fully powered, bird-like flight. Bats’ wings consist of legs with a wrist and hand with five elongated fingers, over which a thin, double membrane is stretched to make the air-pumping surface. The membrane contains blood vessels, nerves, and tendons. It is also attached to the bat’s lower body, legs and tail. The structure of the wing membrane, the arrangement of the bones supporting it, and the positioning of the muscles provide the bat with the lightness and maneuverability necessary for catching insects, hovering above flowers, or quickly avoiding obstacles. Bats launch themselves chiefly at night, but can be observed foraging in the daylight. They drop down from upside-down perches or detach themselves from vertical surfaces, flying immediately. The flitting flight pattern of insectivore bats seems irregular to humans, but t
