390
this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2023
390 points (98.5% liked)
Bats
1431 readers
84 users here now
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?
-
Do not handle it with bare hands! Bats can carry rabies.
-
Here's a map of worldwide rescues and temporary care instructions.
-
Bats should never be kept as pets: Here's why.
Celebrate bats with us!
Our community's mascot is Baxter. Baxter is an Egyptian fruit bat that was cruelly kept alone and confined to a small cage for 12 years before being rescued by a bat sanctuary. You can read the full story by clicking on his name.
Our rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:
- Be respectful and inclusive
Everyone should feel welcome here. Hateful or bigoted language will not be tolerated.
- No illegal or NSFW or NSFL content
Don’t post anything a fruit bat would not approve of.
- No bat hate
Please don't hate on bats in this community (this includes all of your edgy covid humor).
- No advertisement or spam
Bats don’t like spam.
Related Communities
Community Feedback and Moderation
For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, please send a message to the current moderators. Any feedback on the community should also be sent to the moderators.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I think the point of this sidebar is that these kind of mindvirus ideas get spread, but when you scratch beneath the surface, they are all kissing cousins referencing one another.
This particular version doesn't explicitly state that bats pollinate cacao, but it strongly implies. Dig around some more and other referencing this do explicitly state; yet no where is it provided that all of this is basically based around one study, which was really just a correlation between bats and cacao productivity in one small area. Its an issue in science communication in general which is why this thread started, to peal back the layers of the onion a bit and dig further. You can see below for some images I took after I saw this post of cacao that I am personally growing. I also posted a link to a YT video I took showing the flowers and how its basically impossible for a bat to pollinate them (and several of the mentalfloss type sites citing the one you linked do explicitly state that). But this is how 'wrong explanations' for how things work begin. Factoids aren't facts, but fact-like-objects.
I'll be happy to update the sidebar, I understand the need for accurate communication in science. I also would have thought that Canadian Geographic would be a good source, but apparently not.
Well its a good lesson. Thanks for being open minded. Also check out the video to see what a cacao flower looks like.
Afaik, the paper found a 37% increase in yields when birds and bats had access to cacao. However, I think this is likely due to bats and birds eating the predators of cacao midges (tiny gnats that pollinate cacao).
This is the key figure from the paper that shows that:
Here is the link to the paper:
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eap.2886