Author:
Jan Scholten
Book:
Qjurious
Type:
Info
Chapter:
4-656.__.00
Chiroptera
Name: Chiroptera from the Greek cheir, hand and pteron, wing.
Zoology: forelimbs form webbed wings; flap their spread-out digits, which are very long and covered with a thin membrane or patagium; ± 1240 species; 70% are insectivores, 30% fruit eaters, few species eat fish and animals other than insects vampire bats being hematophagous; ecological roles of pollinating flowers and dispersing fruit seeds.
Suborders
Flying foxes: less specialized and largely fruit-eating megabats.
Microbats: specialized and echolocating