AY Honors/Bats - Advanced/Answer Key
Bats, Advanced
Skill Level 2
1. Earn the Bats Honor.
Answers to the Bats Honor can be found in the Nature chapter of this book.
2. What are caves, attics, bridges, or tunnels where bats hibernate called?
Roosts
3. Give three (3) examples of colonizing bats.
Brazilian Free-tailed Bat; Big Brown Bat; Little Brown Bat; Rafinesque's Big-eared Bat ; Southeastern Myotis; Evening Bat; Mexican Long-nosed bat; Pallid bat; Pictures of these bats can be found at http://www.enature.com
4. Give three (3) examples of solitary roosting bats.
Spotted Bat (rare); Red Bat; Silver-haired Bat; Hoary Bat; Western Red Bat. More information can be found at http://www.xpressweb.com/~talon/BatsinAz/furred.html
5. What is meant by delayed implantation?
The gestation periods of bats are relatively long, ranging from about 44 days to 8 months in various species. Few produce more than a single offspring each year, and the young tend to mature slowly. The reproductive cycles of most species follow general mammalian patterns, but exceptions exist. Most interesting are certain Temperate Zone species that hibernate during the winter months. Copulation occurs prior to hibernation, and sperm are retained within the females throughout the hibernation period. Fertilization occurs when the ovum is released from the ovary after the bats arouse in the spring. This is called delayed fertilization. A variant of this pattern is observed in one European genus, in which copulation, ovulation, and early development of the embryo all occur in normal sequence immediately prior to hibernation, but the embryo experiences developmental arrest before uterine attachment. It remains free and undeveloped until after the torpid mother resumes normal metabolism in spring. This is called delayed implantation. Quoted from: The Virtual Zoo: http://library.thinkquest.org/11922/mammals/bats.htm
6. How long is the gestation period for bats?
44 days to 8 months (see above)
7. What is bat guano and why was it important during the War of 1812 and the Civil War?
Bat Guano is bat dropping (feces). Among bat colonies, thousands of pounds of guano canaccumulate. During the American Ware of 1812 and the American Civil War, Bat Guano was used to make gunpowder, since the primary component of guano is saltpeter–the primary ingredient in gunpowder. More info online at: http://www.chiropteraphilia.com/cavehistory.html
8. What disease can be contracted from large quantities of guano?
Histoplasmosis, a fungal disease that affects the respiratory systems of humans. (see online sources for more details)
9. What is the life-span of a bat?
Most bats live longer than most mammals of their size. The longest known lifespan of a bat in the wild is 30 years for a little brown bat.
10. Do all bats have rabies?
Many people do not like bats and are afraid of them because they think all bats have rabies. Rabies is a virus that is transmitted to animals and people through animal bites. A study by the University of Florida has shown less than one-half of 1 percent of all bats have rabies. It is more likely for a person to be bitten by an unvaccinated dog or cat. Excerpted from http://www.Pagewise.com
11. How good is the vision of microbats and megabats?
In addition to their incredible echolocation abilities, bats also process visual information -- contrary to popular belief, most bats have fairly acute vision. They use echolocation in conjunction with vision, not instead of it. More Bat vision Information at: http://science.howstuffworks.com/bat2.htm
12. What North American bat is pictured on the honor?
Red Bat
