Bats

Today is International Bat Appreciation Day. Bats are the second largest group of mammals on Earth with at least 1447 species. They make up 20% of all known mammal species, belong to the order Chiroptera and are the only mammals capable of sustained flight. Bats are beneficial, acting as natural pest control, pollinating trees and dispersing seeds. Insect eating bats reduce the amount of pesticide needed in agriculture. Bats are declining worldwide facing numerous threats such as habitat loss, diseases such as white nose syndrome killing off millions of bats and hunting as a result of misguided population control measures. Featuring bats, here is Plate 67 from German biologist Ernst Haeckel’s Kunstformen der Natur, (Art Forms of Nature), co-created with artist-lithographer Adolf Giltsch in 1904. #bats #internationalbatappreciationday #biodiversity #conservation #art #biology

References:

How many species of mammals are there? | Journal of Mammalogy | Oxford Academic (oup.com)