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 * CHIROPTERA**

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__Overview:__ The animals of Order Chiroptera, also known as Bats, are the only winged mammals on Earth. They are characterized by possessing forearms adapted for flight, long life spans, generally live in colonies, different species have adapted to eat a wide variety of food, and are primarily nocturnal.

__Families:__ Chiroptors of Minnesota are of the Microchiroptera subcategory, of the Vespertilionidae family.

__Diet:__ All Minnesota Chiropters are insectivores and feed on flyings insects (flies and moths), and ground insects such as leafhoppers, grasshoppers, and crickets.

__Bats found in Minnesota:__ Little Brown Bat Eastern Pipistrelle Northern Myotis Big Brown Bat Red Bat Silver-haired Bat Hoary Bat

__Ranges of Minnesota Bats:__ Little Brown Bat: L 1.5-2 inches, T 1.25-1.75 inches, W 8-10 inches, weight one-tenth to one-half ounces Eastern Pipistrelle: L 2-2.25 inches, T 1-1.75 inches, W 8-10 inches, weight one-tenth to one-fifth ounces Northern Myotis: L 2-2.5 inches, T 1.5-1.75 inches, W 8-10 inches, weight one-fifth to three-eighths ounces Silver-haired Bats: L 2-3 inches, T 1.5-1.75 inches, W 13-14 inches, weight one-fourth to one-half ounces Big Brown Bat: L 2-3 inches, T 1.5-2 inches, W 13-14 inches, weight one-half to nine-tenths ounces Red Bat: L 2-3 inches, T 1.25-2.25 inches, W 13-14 inches, weight one-fourth to one-half ounces Hoary Bat: L 2-4 inches, T 1.75-2.5 inches, W 15-16 inches, weight three-fourths to 1.25 ounces

__Number of Species:__ There are approximately 925 species of living bats make up around 20% of all known living mammal species. In some tropical areas, there are more species of bats than of all other kinds of mammals combined. Megachiroptera includes one family and about 166 species. All feed primarily on plant material, either fruit, nectar or pollen. The remaining 16 families (around 759 species) belong to Microchiroptera. Compared to the world there are only seven species of Chiroptera in Minnesota (which are listed above).

__Order Meaning:__ Directly means "winged-hand"

__Fun Fact:__ Instead of relying on thier sence of sight for night-time vision, bats use rapid high-pitched squeaks in order to find thier way around. These sounds are called "Ultrasounds" and are too high of a frequency for humans to hear.

__Sources: www.thefreedictionary.com __ www.Discoverlife.org animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu

Page created by: Alexander Gaebel and Cole Miller