Abstract
Bats belong to the order Chiroptera. There are about 950 species worldwide, making up almost a quarter of all known mammal species. The order Chiroptera is divided into two major sub-orders; the Microchirop-tera and the Megachiroptera (Old World fruit bats). The Megachiroptera are distinguished from the Microchiroptera by having a simple external ear forming an unbroken ring and by having a second finger that is relatively independent of the third finger and which usually bears a small claw. They do not possess a nose-leaf (often well-developed in the Microchiroptera) or tragus (a small structure inside the ear). They generally have large eyes, and sight and smell appear to be the major locational senses, in contrast to the Microchiroptera, which have small eyes. Echolocation, a method of orientation using ultrasonic sounds emitted through the mouth or nose, is universal among the Microchiroptera but is, with a few exceptions, unknown in the Megachiroptera.
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Mickleburgh, S., Carroll, J.B. (1994). The role of captive breeding in the conservation of Old World fruit bats. In: Olney, P.J.S., Mace, G.M., Feistner, A.T.C. (eds) Creative Conservation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0721-1_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0721-1_19
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