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this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2023
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Bats
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Bats are cool
Bats are the only true flying mammals. There are over 1,400 species of bats, and they can be found on nearly every part of the planet. Not only are they cute, they are also important...
Studying how bats use echolocation has helped scientists develop navigational aids for the blind. Without bats’ pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control we wouldn’t have bananas, avocados, mangoes, agave, or cacao… that’s right, bats bring us tequila and chocolate!
Found a bat in need of help?
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Do not handle it with bare hands! Bats can carry rabies.
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Here's a map of worldwide rescues and temporary care instructions.
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Bats should never be kept as pets: Here's why.
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Isn’t this a bit of a misnomer? Wouldn’t whatever became the the cacao plant or other plants evolved to be pollinated by some other mechanism if bats didn’t exist?
Or, there were other plants that went extinct because the animals that pollinated them died out.
Oh, my... I have finally found the perfect thread to comment this:
Evolution works in mysterious ways.
Like the avocado toast plant?
Exactly. It took us thousands of years to rediscover avocado toast. We're lucky we still had the Avocado, its distant cousin.
It's impossible to say. There's certainly no guarantee for a cocoa-like plant to exist, so bats not existing as (initially badly adapted) pollinators could have certainly been their death sentence, depending on how everything else played out for them.
It could have also just resulted in cocoa plants evolving very differently and ultimately not tasting like the cocoa we know today.
Bats don't pollinate cacao. it's flowers are tiny and would never survive pollination by a mammal. The headline is misleading.