Mammals usually mate via penetrative sex, but researchers report Nov. 20 in the journal Current Biology that a species of bat, the serotine bat, (Eptesicus serotinus) mates without penetration. This is the first time non-penetrative sex has been documented in a mammal.

The bats' penises are around seven times longer than their partners' vaginas and have a "heart-shaped" head that is seven times wider than the vaginal opening. Both the penises' size and shape would make penetration post-erection impossible. The researchers show that, rather than functioning as a penetrative organ, the bats use their oversized penises like an extra arm to push the female's tail sheath out of the way so that they can engage in contact mating. This behavior resembles "cloacal kissing" in birds.

The northern ghost bat (Diclidurus albus) is a bat species from South America, Trinidad, and Central America. It is a relatively rare, completely white, insectivorous bat, with an unusual sac at the base of its tail.

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Northern ghost bats are solitary except during the breeding season. During this time, small groups of bats can been seen roosting very close together. There is usually a maximum of four individuals, and the group consists of one male and multiple females.

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Grumpy cotton balls have harems!

At @TolgaBatHospital, #SpectacledFlyingFox patients need sun, protection from extreme heat (and cold) and a feeling of safety. They also need other Flying Foxes to socialise with while in captive care.

This is the cage we use for the juveniles learning to fly before we release them.

We've almost finished the release for this year, putting 180 endangered Spectacled Flying Foxes back into the forest to provide pollination and seed dispersal services for the Wet Tropics world heritage areas.

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Bats are New Zealand's only native land mammals. Pekapeka evolved to spend a lot of time foraging on the ground, because in pre-colonial times there were no predators for them to worry about.

Abstract

Centurio senex is an iconic bat characterized by a facial morphology deviating far from all other New World Leaf Nosed Bats (Phyllostomidae). The species has a bizarrely wrinkled face and lacks the characteristic nose leaf. Throughout its distribution from Mexico to Northern South America the species is most of the time rarely captured and only scarce information on its behavior and natural history is available.

Centurio senex is frugivorous and one of the few bats documented to consume also hard seeds. Interestingly, the species shows a distinct sexual dimorphism: Adult males have more pronounced facial wrinkles than females and a fold of skin under the chin that can be raised in style of a face mask.

We report the first observations on echolocation and mating behavior of Centurio senex, including synchronized audio and video recordings from an aggregation of males in Costa Rica. Over a period of 6 weeks we located a total of 53 perches, where during the first half of the night males were hanging with raised facial masks at a mean height of 2.35 m.

Most of the time, the males moved just their wing tips, and spontaneously vocalized in the ultrasound range. Approaches of other individuals resulted in the perching male beating its wings and emitting a very loud, low frequency whistling call. Following such an encounter we recorded a copulation event.

The observed aggregation of adult C. senex males is consistent with lek courtship, a behavior described from only few other bat species.

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Credit for the image goes to Zoo Studio

To learn more about the Tolga Bat Hospital, check out their site.

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This photo is from the Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Centre's FB page.

Article with story, video and more pictures

In late January, African straw-colored fruit bat Jessica gave birth. At 18 years old (the average life expectancy for this species), she is one of the oldest straw-colored fruit bats to give birth in human care. Of all mammals, fruit bats have the largest-sized babies in comparison to their body size: a female that weighs 300g will give birth to a pup that weighs 50g!

Sadly, the natural weight of the pup may have contributed to Jessica experiencing a critical injury after giving birth. She was humanely euthanized due to the significant nature of the injury and the very poor chance of making a recovery.

The African rainforest team immediately stepped in to begin hand-rearing the pup, now named Jesse in honor of his mom. He receives around-the-clock care, including feedings every four hours: the zoo’s nutrition team designed a special milk formula that is made fresh every 24 hours just for him. Although to date he has only been eating formula, he will soon be introduced to pureed fruit.

I am not 100% sure but I think this might be the brown long-eared bat from Europe. If so...

How big are the ears of a brown long-eared bat? The brown long-eared bat's ears are almost as long as its body, although, when at rest, it often rolls them up or tucks them under its wings.

Why do brown long-eared bats have such large ears? Brown long-eareds are not as reliant on sonar as most bats. They use their huge ears to listen for the rustling sounds made by moving insects and also use their eyes to spot prey.

How do brown long-eared bats hunt? These slow but highly manoeuvrable flyers hunt in open woodland where they specialise in gleaning prey from foliage, although they will also take insects in flight.

When do brown long-eared bats fly? Despite their use of visual cues, brown long-eareds don't emerge from their roosts until an hour or so after sunset – later than most bat species.

Where are brown long-eared bats found? The brown long-eared bat is widespread and fairly common across Europe. It occurs throughout mainland UK but not on Orkney, Shetland or the Outer Hebrides.

What are brown long-eared bats related to? The brown long-eared bat was split into two species in the 1960s, the other being the much rarer grey long-eared bat, which, in Britain, is confined to the far south of England.

How long do brown long-eared bats live for? Brown long-eared bats have been known to live as long as 22 years, but they usually reach only four or five.

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Why choose a state bat

Burbank congress member Caroline Menjivar sponsored the bill, which states that bats have provided California with more than $1 billion worth of pest control to the state's agricultural land. They've also helped reduce the state's fire risk with their consumption of bark beetles and wood borers.

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Credit goes to Alyson Brokaw aka alyb_batgirl.