Você já viu algum mamífero que voa? Normalmente, quando pensamos em animais voadores, a primeira coisa que nos vem à mente são imagens de pássaros. No entanto, no reino animal existem muitos outros animais voadores, desde insetos a mamíferos. É verdade que alguns destes animais não voam, apenas deslizam ou têm estruturas corporais que lhes permitem saltar de grandes alturas sem serem danificados quando chegam ao chão.
However, there are flying mammals that have the ability to fly, not just to float, like bats. In this peritoAnimal article, we will show the curious characteristics of flying mammals and a list with photos of the most representative species.
- At first glance.
- The wings of a bird and a bat can be very different.
- The birds have wings covered with feathers and hairy bats.
- However.
- When observing their bone structure.
- We will see that they have the same bones: humerus.
- Radius.
- Ulna.
- Carp.
- Paturon and phalanges.
In birds, some of the wrist and hand bones have disappeared, but not in bats. They have incredibly stretched their metacarpal bones and phalanges, extending the tip of the wing, with the exception of the thumb, which retains its small size and allows bats to walk, climb or support each other.
To fly, these mammals had to reduce their body weight in the same way as birds, decreasing the density of their bones, making them more porous and less uncomfortable to fly. The hind legs have been reduced and, as they are fragile bones, they cannot bear the weight of the animal while standing, so the bats rest upside down.
In addition to bats, other examples of flying mammals are flying squirrels or hangers. These animals, rather than wings, have developed another flight strategy or, rather, glider. The skin between the front and back legs and the skin between the hind legs and the tail were covered with excessive vegetation, creating a kind of parachute that allows them to slide.
Below are some species from this curious group of flying mammals
This flying mammal is a medium to small bat with large ears and snout. Its fur has a reddish blond tone on the back and lighter on the belly. They weigh between 5.5 and 11.5 grams.
They are native to Europe, southwest Asia and northwestern Africa. They prefer dense and wooded habitats, where spiders proliferate, their main food source. They nest in cavernous areas, are nocturnal and leave their shelters just before sunset, returning before sunrise.
Large tree bats are, as the name suggests, large and weigh up to 40 grams. They have relatively short ears proportionally to the body. They have golden brown hair, often reddish. The hairless areas of the body such as the wings, ears and snout are very dark, almost black.
These flying mammals are scattered throughout the Eurasian continent, from the Iberian Peninsula to Japan, as well as North Africa. It is also a forest bat, nesting in tree holes, although it can also be found in the cracks of human buildings.
It is one of the first bats to fly before nightfall, so it can be seen flying alongside birds like swallows. They are partly migratory, at the end of summer much of the population moves south.
The next flying mammal is the bat. It is medium to high and its hair is yellowish. It has short, triangular, dark-colored ears, like the rest of the body that is not covered in hair. Females are slightly larger than males, reaching 24 grams in weight.
Its populations are distributed from northwestern Africa to the south of the Iberian Peninsula. They feed on insects and live in cracks in rocks, rarely in trees.
Flying squirrels have a grayish-brown fur, except for the belly, which is white. Their tails are flattened and have large, well-developed eyes, as they are nocturnal animals. They can weigh more than 120 grams.
They are scattered from Alaska to northern Canada. They live in coniferous forests, where walnut-producing trees abound. Their diet is very varied, they can eat acorns, nuts, other seeds, berries, flowers, fungi, insects and even small birds. They are flying mammals that nest in tree hollows and usually have two litters a year.
These squirrels are very similar to the northern flying squirrel, but their fur is lighter. They also have flat tails and large eyes, like those from the north. They live in wooded areas in southern Canada, Texas. Their diet is similar to that of their northern cousins and they need trees to take refuge in their cracks and nests.
The colugo, also known as a flying lemur, is a species of mammal that lives in Malaysia. They are dark grey with a lighter belly. Like flying squirrels, they have an excess of skin between their legs and tail that allows them to glide. Their tails are almost as long as their bodies. They can reach a weight of about two pounds. They feed almost exclusively on leaves, flowers and fruits.
When flying lemurs have offspring, they carry the cubs in their womb until they can defend themselves. With them on top, they jump and “fly” too. They live in wooded areas in the treetops. It is a species vulnerable to extinction, according to the IUCN, due to habitat destruction.
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