flying it's something many of us wish we could do diving like a peregrine falcon at speeds of over
300 kilometers per hour are soaring the skies with the three meter wingspan of an albatross but only
certain types of animals can do it and today we're going to talk about the only group of mammals that
can fly bats i know those guys seem to have a bit of a bad rep these days but you'll soon discover
just how extraordinary these creatures are and the important role they play in our everyday lives
now as a child you were probably introduced to bats via the infamous vampire bats those little
bloodsuckers associated with dracula well there are more than a thousand other species bats make
up 20 of all mammals and because of that they're everywhere living on almost every continent and
they vary greatly in size and appearance take the flying fox for example this species has a wingspan
of about a meter and a half while the bump will be bat as its name suggests has a wingspan of just
15 centimeters you may be sensing a common theme here when i'm talking about all of these bats and
bat species they're wings that's because batwings are incredible and not just because of the varying
sizes now the easiest comparison to make is between bats and birds while some birds are
great at cruising flight bats have the edge when it comes to maneuvering and all that comes down
to how bats wings are built the bone structure of bat wings is incredibly flexible if you've ever
watched a bat hunt an insect you can see just how agile they are almost like an aerial acrobat bats
have similar bones that we humans have their arms consist of the same bones and joints as we do an
upper arm an elbow a lower arm a wrist and digits that's right they have a hand in their wings with
fingers that actually support the wing this allows for incredible precision and maneuverability bats
have four elongated digits that they can flex and bend and a thumb that remains separate with a claw
some use this cloth for climbing or crawling while others use it to handle food connecting these
limbs in the digits is a skin membrane called the potassium that consists of two layers of epidermis
and dermis that surround blood vessels nerves and tendons unlike our skin which acts like a
protective barrier bat skin actually helps them move now we usually don't associate skin as a
way of generating movement but this membrane is key to how bats perfect their maneuvering skills
in flight while flying seems pretty amazing to us it's one of the most taxing ways of getting around
and this is true especially for bats during flight a bat's heartbeat can surge to over 1
000 beats per minute and their body temperature can rise to more than 39 degrees celsius that's
over 102 degrees fahrenheit for some animals that might mean certain death but not for bats
researchers seem to think these stressors are what built the bats superpower
their immune system bats are known to host some of the world's deadliest viruses from rabies to ebola
to even some coronaviruses possibly even the virus that causes covet 19. a bat's immune system
responds differently than ours to these types of infections preventing the animal from falling sick
and this research suggested that flight may be the reason why it's believed that when bats evolved
to fly their energy metabolism was altered to adapt to the high energetic demands of flight
but this high metabolic rate can eventually damage their dna which can negatively impact
their health so to prevent this bats have evolved mechanisms to lessen their immune response
resulting in bats not being affected by these diseases the same way we humans are
this makes them natural disease reservoirs and because of this they get a bad reputation but
they're crucial members to our world and those little creatures need our help more than ever
environmental threats like deforestation and wildlife trade are putting bat populations
under enormous pressure and in turn this puts us in danger as well we continue to infringe
on their world by destroying their habitat which in turn creates more opportunities for
diseases to jump from one species to another and like most of our natural world we need bats they
play important roles in our ecosystems from pest controllers to pollinators thousands of plants
rely on bats for pollination or to spread seeds some of our favorite fruits like mangoes guava
and even avocados wouldn't be here if it weren't for them the great part is that you can help and
the wildlife conservation society has some great tips it could be as easy as looking at your
backyard or outside your window and it doesn't matter if you live in downtown manhattan or san
francisco or in the woods somewhere you can help by doing what actually my wife and i have recently
done which is we've gotten rid of our lawn and we're replanting pollinators for those who are
not as fortunate as people like myself just a box outside your window native plants and starting to
contribute to bringing back insects in the native flora and fauna of your area you can do something
that's very profound thanks for watching seeker's new series tusk to tales i'm evan anton and i hope
you enjoyed this video if there's an animal you want us to cover leave us a comment see you next
time