Bats are a class of mammals with real flight ability, and there are more than a thousand species of bats described worldwide, belonging to the order Pterodactyl, which can be further distinguished into the suborder Large Bat and the Small Bat suborder. Small bats are widely distributed, predominantly insect-eating, but their eyes are small and have an echolocation function — a sensory ability to "see" with sound. Correspondingly, the giant bats are distributed only in the tropical regions of the Old World, feeding on nectar, fruit, and pollen.
Almost all bats have large eyes and are extremely dependent on vision. Bats vary widely in size and size, and craseonycteris thonglongyai, a small bat, is one of the smallest bats in the world, weighing only 2 grams and having a wingspan of only 1 inch long, about 2.54 centimeters. Another extreme example comes from a member of the large bat family, the Acerodon jubatus, also known as the Filipino fruit bat, which is one of the largest bats in the world. The mane Malli-toothed fox has a wingspan of nearly 6 feet (about 1.83 meters) and weighs more than 3 pounds (about 1.361 kg).
Bats are often considered mysterious animals because they live in dark caves that are difficult for humans to access. But a recent study we conducted in the Philippines made us realize that bats may be more human-like than we previously thought. We mainly studied the habitat of the fruit bat, which belongs to a large class, distributed throughout Southeast Asia, and can reach south China as far north. Due to the natural nature of the caves and their bat communities themselves, they are ideal subjects for study, which makes it possible to clearly observe bats outside their habitats, and scientists can record the daily activities of these bats in great detail.
This means that any knowledge we gain from this study will be crucial to the conservation efforts of the fruit bat in the region. Despite the widespread distribution of this species, basic information about them is extremely poor. This means that any knowledge gained by studying these bats is critical to conservation actions throughout the local area.
One of these behaviors, which we studied very carefully, is "washing." Although bats are thought to be nocturnal animals that fly out only at night to feed, they remain active throughout the day. They communicate with each other and spend long hours grooming. Grooming is their normal job, and they enjoy it. Based on hundreds of hours of video data collected at the mouth of the cave, we wanted to analyze combing behavior under conditions of different sexes, ages, and body parts in order to reveal potential differences between these different groups.
Scientists have investigated group grooming behavior between two or more members of a population of fruit-tailed fruit bats. It is valuable to study their grooming behavior, from which we can not only know the health status of individuals, but also draw conclusions about the health status of the entire population. For example, large numbers of bats living together may lead to worsening of sanitary conditions, increasing the likelihood of infectious diseases and parasites rising.
Initial observations led scientists to believe that this was not the case, and that the group of hundreds of thousands of bats was still in good health. If further analysis can confirm this idea, scientists can infer that such group densities do not degrade their sanitation. Scientists are able to study this bat population in this way because once bats are under stress, the consequences of declining health manifest themselves. During periods of illness or increased stress, both humans and bats somehow carefully calculate their time and energy to prioritize certain needs. For example, in the case of food shortages, bats spend less time sleeping and grooming in order to save more time for foraging. As a result, their appearance changes and they look less healthy.
Similar to bats, humans wash themselves in a variety of ways. Every time you wake up and start a day of routine washing, you probably don't care. Showering, brushing your teeth, combing your hair, these constitute the process of human washing. When a person has good hygiene, the appearance is obviously neat; and once one of us has friends who pause to wash, we will soon notice this. Imagine that if a person does not wash their hair for many days, their hair will become greasy and disheveled, similar to this, bats will soon become disheveled and messy if they no longer maintain their hair.
Washing is essential for humans, and it's also important for the health of bats. Like humans, bats have their own set of washing routines. They wash themselves by licking their wings and hair. They keep themselves healthy by scratching and biting to remove parasites from the body. Bats may be busy with all sorts of washing all day long, and each wash has a different effect. A typical washing routine goes something like this: Start by licking the hairs on your body, and after a few minutes, start scratching your body and inner mouth with one foot. When you are tired of washing, you will take a nap, and then continue, and where to stop, start there, and then focus on licking your wings.
Fruit bats seem willing to spend most of their energy on the washing of their wings. This is very important in order to ensure good flight conditions.
Although studying the basic nursing behaviors of bats may not seem so important, the conclusions that have been drawn give us a glimpse into the health of the fruit bat population. This is a breathtaking and biologically important species.