The truth about… fruit bats

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J Morga
The truth about…
fruit bats
Livingstone’s fruit bats are only found in
the Comoros, off the west coast of
Madagascar. As their name suggests
they eat a lot of fruit, although they will
also eat some leaves and flowers as well.
Fruit bats are not blind, they
use their eyes to help them
pick out the fruit amongst the
leaves of the tree. They also
have good hearing and an
excellent sense of smell and
can smell ripe fruit more than
three miles away.
Did you know…
bats are mammals just
like us? They are also
the only mammals
who can fly (without
an aeroplane!)
R Wainw
right
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5
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M Le Monnier
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J Morgan
The bones of a bats wing
are arranged in a similar
pattern to the bones in our
hands, but by stretching skin
between the digits they are
able to fly.
Did you know…
Livingstone’s fruit bats
have a wingspan of
1.5m making them one
of the largest fruit bats
in the world
Bats roost in trees,
but Livingstone’s
fruit bats are
struggling because
their forest habitat
is disappearing.