Baturnalia - Bat wings
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- Category: Baturnalia
- Published on Thursday, 25 August 2011 08:03
- Written by Super User
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- Bat wings. A bats wing is a thin membrane supported along the leading edge by the forearm, and by greatly elongated fingers. The wing has hundreds of tiny 'pockets' which fold up as the wing is closed so that the wing simply become smaller and thicker and still maintains a useful aerodynamic shape. The wing is highly vascularized and allows the bat to get rid of the excess heat produced during flight. This may be why bats are essentially nocturnal so that they can get rid of heat rather than acquiring it which could happen during the day in the tropics.
Baturnalia - Chiroptera
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- Category: Baturnalia
- Published on Thursday, 25 August 2011 07:59
- Written by Super User
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- Chiroptera. Bats belong to the order Chiroptera which is derived from the greek for hand and wing. The order is divided into 2 suborders, the Microchiroptera (small bats) and the Megachiroptera (large bats). Micros are predominantly (but not exclusively) insectivorous and use echolocation to find their way around. Megas are the fruit bats, with large eyes and with a a few exceptions do not use echolocation.
Introduction to the Baturnalia
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- Category: Baturnalia
- Published on Thursday, 25 August 2011 07:55
- Written by Justin Halls
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The Baturnalia is a collection of quick facts, anecdotes or interesting tales about bats. They are collected here in no particular order, but in some cases will have links to more detailed explanations. The items in the baturnalia have been collected from many sources and from personal observations - it is always possible that the sources maybe outdated and where I know of more up to date information I will provide a link to this. References to the initial factlets are not given, but where there are more detailed linked articles then references and sources will be listed.
Enjoy!