NEW YORK: Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Their elongated fingers with extended wing membrane between them help in efficient flight. Bats are nocturnal and majority of them are carnivorous except for a except that live on fruits and nectar. Bats prey on insects, small mammals, frogs, lizards etc. There are also fish-eating and famous blood-sucking vampire bats of South America.
Bats use sound to ‘see’ by a phenomenon called echolocation for navigation and locating prey. Echolocation is similar to the sonar or radar where ultra-high frequency sound signals are produced to determine the location of objects by the dynamic echo information received from the object in the path. The sound waves produced by bats hit the object or prey and bounce back as echoes that are sensed by bats to estimate the size and distance of the prey.
In a recent study, a team of researchers from Columbia University, New York and University of Maryland discovered that sense of touch plays a key role in addition to the echolocation for bats. Dr. Ellen A. Lumpkin and her colleagues discovered that wings of bats have a special array of hairs and touch sensitive receptors that detect changes in air flow to help stabilize the flight and feel the prey.
Researchers also found out that neurons emerging from the receptors on the wings are arranged in a pattern and send signals to the lower spinal cord. This is very unusual because lower spinal cord in mammals receives signals only from the torso. The bizarre tactile circuitry reflects the embryonic origins of bat wings, which form when their front limbs, torso and hind limbs fuse together.
