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BAT

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 506 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BAT ,1 a name for any member of the zoological See also:

order See also:Chiroptera (q.v.). Bats are insectivorous animals modified for See also:flight, i M. E. bakke, the See also:change to " bat " having apparently been influenced by See also:Lat. See also:batta, blatta, See also:moth. The word is thus distinct from the other See also:common See also:term " bat," the See also:implement for striking, which is probably connected with Fr. battre, though a See also:Celtic or simply onomatopoetic origin has been suggested.with slight See also:powers of progression on the ground; the patagium or "flying-membrane" of some squirrels and of See also:Galeopithecus (q.v.) probably indicates the way in which the modification. was effected. • They are distributed throughout the See also:world, but are most abundant in the tropics and the warmer parts of the temperate zones; within these limits the largest forms occur. There is See also:great variation in See also:size; the See also:Malay "flying-See also:fox " (Pteropus edulis) See also:measures about a See also:foot in the See also:head and See also:body, and has a wing-spread of 5 ft.; while in the smaller forms the head and body may be only about 2 in., and the wing-spread no more than a foot. The coloration is generally sombre, but to this there are exceptions; the See also:fruit-bats are brownish yellow or russet on the under See also:surface; two See also:South See also:American See also:species are See also:white; See also:Blainville's See also:chin-leafed bat is See also:bright See also:orange; and the See also:Indian painted bat (Cerivoula pieta) with its deep orange See also:dress, spotted with See also:black on the wing-membranes, has reminded observers of a large butterfly. In habits bats are social, non, turnal and See also:crepuscular; the See also:insect-eating species feed on the wing, in See also:winter in the temperate regions they migrate to a warmer See also:climate, or hibernate, as do the See also:British bats. The sense-See also:organs are highly See also:developed; the wing-membranes are exceedingly sensitive; the See also:nose-See also:leaf is also an See also:organ of See also:perception, and the See also:external See also:ear is specially modified to receive See also:sound= waves. Most bats are insect-eaters, but the tropical " flying foxes " or fox-bats of the Old World live on fruit; some are See also:blood-suckers, and two feed on small See also:fish. Twelve species are British, among which are the pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus, or P. pipistrellus), the See also:long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus), the noctule (Pipistrellus [Pterygistesl noctulus) the greater and lesser horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum and R. hipposiderus), &c.

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