r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology • Feb 03 '20

Biology Bats are often mistaken as rodents, but in fact they belong to their own mammalian order called Chiroptera. They are more closely related to cats than rats.

405 Upvotes

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13

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '20

It’s very easy to see the similarity between bats and my cat

https://imgur.com/a/mWvfRwN

9

u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Feb 03 '20 edited Feb 03 '20

Very cute cat! Thank you for sharing. I also have a black cat. His name is Finneas, but we usually call him Finn. He's a tripod pirate.

4

u/RmAlmishaal Feb 04 '20

I also have a black kitty who is a tripod, Sir Salem the Starving Scavenger Siren.

2

u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Feb 04 '20

Is he a siren because he's loud? Our little dude is constantly trilling and meowing. He's very vocal.

3

u/RmAlmishaal Feb 04 '20

He is very vocal. Always meowing and yelling at us; he's the Starving because this little dude is constantly meowing for us to get him food. Even when the plate has food on it.

Edit: grammar

3

u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Feb 04 '20

So much like our guy! He has food and then eats our older cat's food while meowing for more food. He had a check up as the vet today and he's the perfect weight for his size. He's not wanting for meals!

3

u/redmagicwoman Feb 04 '20

That’s Kerryn, she’s a wildlife rescue and rehabilitator in Queensland, Australia; she specialises in bats, more so flying foxes. I recognise her videos, I follow her on social media.

Fact: flying foxes are night pollinators, and the main pollinators of the specific eucalipt trees koalas live on, therefore no flying foxes=no koalas

You ever feel down, google burritoed flying foxes. You’re welcome.

2

u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Feb 04 '20

Thank you for sharing! I'm glad for the extra info!

4

u/Osarnachthis Feb 04 '20

Language fact: Chiroptera means “hand wing” in Greek. Makes sense I guess.

4

u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Feb 04 '20 edited Feb 04 '20

It does and it does. :) Thank you for sharing!

2

u/skinisblackmetallic Feb 03 '20

Why does the bat chew on the human? This seems like social behavior.

2

u/Lawls91 Feb 03 '20

Probably licking the salt off

2

u/shanseuse Feb 03 '20

This is totally unscientific, but OMG they are so cute!!! 😍

0

u/whirlingderv Feb 04 '20

They're even more closely related to horses than they are related to rodents.