Do Bats Have Eyes? The Truth About Bats' Eyesight Revealed
Bats are the only mammals that have evolved true powered flight. There are 961 extant species in 185 genera across 19 families, distributed throughout the world except for the polar regions and some oceanic islands. Their forelimbs have been modified into wings, and they fly through the air at night, feeding on insects such as mosquitoes and moths, while a few species eat fruit or feed on the blood of other animals. Let's take a look below at whether bats have eyes!
Do bats have eyes?
Bats do have eyes, but they are very small so that they can work effectively at night or in dark caves. Many people used to say that bats have poor eyesight, but this is actually a huge misconception. Quite a few scientists have pointed out that bats' eyesight is not poor, that different species of bats have different levels of eyesight, and that bats' use of ultrasound has no necessary connection to their eyesight.
Are bats venomous?
Bats are not venomous, but they do carry at least 14 viruses that can infect humans or animals, including rabies, Hendra virus, Nipah virus, and Hantavirus. Nipah virus in particular kills more than 50% of the people it infects. Bats carry viruses, and in recent years it has been confirmed that there have been at least two outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases. One was in Australia, where Hendra virus was first transmitted from bats to horses and then to humans. The other was in Malaysia, where Nipah virus was transmitted from bats to pigs and then to humans.
How do bats navigate?
Bats are highly skilled at distinguishing sounds. Their ears contain structures for biological wave location, and they identify objects by emitting biological waves and interpreting the echoes reflected back from them. When flying, they emit a kind of biological wave that humans cannot hear through their mouths and noses, and it bounces back after hitting an insect. Once their ears receive it, they know the exact location of their prey and go to catch it. They can hear sound frequencies of up to 300 kHz, while humans generally hear below 14 kHz.