#Bats are nocturnal creatures, so to find their prey in total darkness they use an amazing strategy, known as #echolocation, also called biological sonar.
They emit a sound that is reflected off the surface of the prey and then returns to the bat as an “#echo”, which allows them to calculate the distance to the prey, the size, the velocity at which the prey is moving, and even the texture of its surface. Their sonar is so accurate that they can distinguish between insects flying and a leaf blowing in the wind, which makes them wonderful nocturnal predators.
The photos below show a #JapanesePipistrelle bat (𝘗𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴 (Temminck, 1838)), a small bat (forearm: 31–35mm, body mass: 3–8g) found in eastern and southern Asia.
Japanese Pipistrelle bats roost in a diverse range of habitats including caves, tree cavities, crevices, and man-made structures. The colonies have an average of 20 bats, and can almost double the number of individuals during spring and summer when food availability increases. During those seasons, their diet is mainly composed of insects and spiders.
Besides this bat, we have several other bats at the museum. #BookAVisit (https://bit.ly/3hiDFNi) and check these amazing flying mammals and more!
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