Chiropteran features of the external structure. Orders Insectivora and Chiroptera. General characteristics and representatives. Types of bats, photos and names

Bats are systematically close to insectivores. This is a group of mammals adapted for flight in the air. Wings serve leathery membranes located between the very long fingers of the forelimbs, sides of the body, hind limbs and tail. The first finger of the forelimbs is free and does not participate in the formation of the wing. Like birds, the sternum bears keel, to which the pectoral muscles are attached, setting the wings in motion.

Flight is agile, controlled almost exclusively by wing movement. Bats can take off from high places: the ceiling of a cave, a tree trunk, and from flat ground, and even from the water surface. In this case, the animal first jumps up, as a result of a strong jerky movement of the forelimbs, then proceeds to flight.

Bats are distributed throughout the globe, except for the Arctic and Antarctic. The total number of species is about 1000. The order includes two suborders: fruit bats (Megachiroptera) and the bats (Microchiroptera).

Suborder Fruit bats (Megachiroptera)

Representatives of this suborder are common in the tropics of Asia, Africa and Australia. They feed on juicy fruits and in some places do great harm to gardening. The eyes are comparatively large; They look for food, guided by sight and a very sharp sense of smell. Few species inhabiting caves are characterized by the ability to echolocation. The day is spent more often on trees, less often in hollows, under the eaves of buildings, in caves, accumulating in many hundreds and even thousands of individuals.

The total number of fruit bat species is about 130. The largest of the true fruit bats kalong (Pteropus vampyrus) lives in the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines. Its body length is up to 40 cm.

Suborder Bats (Microchiroptera)

Includes small species that have sharp teeth and are relatively large auricles. Daytime is spent in shelters, attics, in hollows, in caves. The lifestyle is twilight and nocturnal. Numerous thin tactile hairs are scattered over the body and on the surface of the flying membranes and auricles of bats. Vision is weak and is of little importance for orientation in space.

Hearing in bats exclusively thin. The hearing range is huge - from 0.12 to 190 kHz. (In humans, the range of audibility lies in the range of 0.40 - 20 kHz.) sound echolocation. The bats emit ultrasounds frequency from 30 to 70 kHz is jerky, in the form of pulses with a duration of 0.01 - 0.005 s. The pulse frequency depends on the distance between the animal and the obstacle. In preparation for flight, the animal emits from 5 to 10, and in flight directly in front of an obstacle - up to 60 pulses per second. Ultrasounds reflected from an obstacle are perceived by the animal's hearing organs, which provides orientation in flight at night and the prey of flying insects.

Most bats are found in tropical and subtropical countries. Several dozen species live in countries with a cold and temperate climate. Many species from the northern regions fly south. The length of the flyways is very different - from tens and hundreds to thousands of kilometers.

The number of species is about 800. Most bats are insectivorous. They feed on Diptera, Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. During the waking period, the metabolism is very intense, and often bats eat an amount of food equal to approximately their own body weight per day. Catching nocturnal insects, bats are very useful in biocenoses.

Some South American species feed on the blood of mammals, sometimes humans; are, for example, South American vampires family Desmodusontidae. Blood-eating bats bite through the skin of the victim, but do not suck the blood, but lick it off the surface of the body with their tongue. The saliva of such bats has analgesic properties and prevents blood clotting. This explains the painlessness of the bite and the prolonged flow of blood from the wound.

Among bats there are also carnivores: for example, those living in South America common spear-nosed (Phyllostomus hastatatuus).

They breed slowly, give birth to 1 - 2 cubs. Mating occurs in autumn and spring. During autumn mating, spermatozoa linger in the female genital tract, and fertilization occurs only in spring, when females ovulate. During spring mating, ovulation and fertilization occur simultaneously.

About 40 species are known in the fauna of Russia. Typical ones are ushan (Piecotus auritus), redhead party (Nyctalus noctula). Some species overwinter in place, hibernating. In places in winter they accumulate in large numbers. So, about 40 thousand bats live in the Bakharden cave (Turkmenistan). There are also many other places of mass accumulation of bats.

The days when bats were considered vampires and messengers of the devil have not sunk into oblivion. Many are still afraid of winged creatures, believing that a creature the size of a kitten is able to attack and drink all the blood.. Reasonable people, who are not afraid of the animal, actively argue whether this miracle of nature is useful or harmful.

There is no doubt that this is a miracle. The only flying mammal on earth, this fact already makes the animal special. Yes, and the evolutionary stage of a bat is much higher than other winged creatures (feathered, insects).

General concepts and appearance

In addition to the name "mouse", the air and ground representatives of the family no longer have anything in common.. They have a completely different origin, structure, lifestyle. Winged beauties come from the order of bats, and they were named mice for some external resemblance to a rodent and the ability to make sounds similar to a mouse squeak.

The main part of the body is occupied by wings. Without them, the animal will be a miniature, short-necked creature with a slightly elongated muzzle, very similar to a land mouse. To some, the appearance of a bat seems cute, someone is driven to shiver by a strangely shaped nose, large ears, a large mouth with pronounced sharp teeth and incomprehensible head growths.

Of all the varieties of the flying family, the fruit dog of the fruit bat genus is perhaps the cutest.. She has large, expressive eyes and a "fox" muzzle. The white type of flyers is equipped with a growth on the nose in the form of a horn, which makes the olfactory organ look like a petal. This structure is not accidental: the nostrils, set forward, subtly and quickly capture the slightest smells.

The bulldog mouse also has an unusual appearance. The muzzle is provided with a transverse fold of cartilaginous tissue, through the nose from ear to ear. This "roller" connects the ends of the auricles, thereby making them larger and hearing more perfect. The ushan mouse has simply huge ears compared to the body, which makes its echolocation capabilities perfect. By the way, it is this mouse that belongs to the vampire order and really feeds on blood.. But not human and not in frightening volumes, so it’s still not worth making a deadly monster out of it.

External features do not just create the appearance of the animal, they speak of its food preferences. Fruit flyers do not need powerful locating devices, but they do have prominent nostrils. After all, they get food exclusively by smell.

The ability to move through the air in winged animals is fundamentally different from the bird's aircraft. Birds have a light cellular bone structure, lung air sacs and a special feather structure with different functions. The family of bats does not have such complex structures.. Their wings are leathery membranous formations that open like a cloak, catch the air flow and this helps the animal to “push off” it and soar.

Such a device for the summer and the structure is special. So, the limbs of the mouse are not just paws, but the backbone for the wing: the shoulder is short, the forearm and four fingers are long so that the span area is larger. From the very base of the neck to the fingertips, except for the thumb, a skin-fibrous "mantle" is stretched. The big one has a function. It is equipped with a tenacious claw and serves to capture.

Bat sense organs

During the day, the animal almost does not see, so at this time he sleeps. In the structure of his eyes, there are no cone receptors responsible for daytime vision.. But there are rod receptors, which makes the animal vigilant at dusk and at night. But many species have skin folds in front of their eyes. This is another fact in favor of the assertion that the mouse moves in space, after all, not thanks to vision, but with the help of echolocation. Fruit bats have day vision, so it is quite possible to meet them during daylight hours.

It is difficult for a person to imagine how one can fly, catch prey and find their way to a nest without eyes, but for mice this is a common thing. The animal emits an ultrasound that humans cannot perceive. It is reflected from objects around and returns to the owner. The radius of the wave is 15 m. Returning, the information passes into the ear and is processed inside the hearing organ. This is the basic concept of echolocation.. which, by the way, was used by people to create devices-scanners of the sea depths. The same way of interacting with the environment from the whole world of mammals is still only among dolphins.

Russian residents of the flying family are small, up to 5 cm in the body and up to 20 cm in the wingspan. Their weight is only 2-5 g. Ushans, pig-noses and white species also do not differ in size. The pig-nosed mouse is generally considered the smallest mammal in the world.

planet. There are giants. They can weigh up to 1 kg, and a wingspan of up to 150 cm with a body of 40 cm. Such giants are found in the bat family of fruit bats, subspecies South American false vampire.

The flight of a bat is not too fast, up to 20 km/h. Although there is a record holder - the Brazilian folded lip. It develops 100 km/h. Mice flying away to spend the winter (there are such species) are able to fly more than 300 km.

It is inconvenient for winged creatures to walk on the ground. Their native element is air. True, the vampire subspecies has a stronger femur and, if necessary, is able to move on the surface, relying on the pads of the paws. But the bats can't do that. Their ground movements are clumsy and awkward.

Diet and sleep patterns of winged animals

Food habits depend on the species, which is why mice are divided into categories:

Insectivores.

Vegetarians (fruit eaters).

Carnivores.

Fish-eating.

Vampires.

Bats sleep upside down. Claws caught on a suitable crossbar, they cover themselves with a cloak of wings and hang in clusters. As soon as the animal senses danger, it spreads its wings and flies away without delay by getting up and taking a vertical position..

Photo

Bat breeding

Before winter sleep, the mating season begins for the animals. It takes several months to bear offspring.. The female feeds the baby with milk for 2 weeks, but surrounds with care and care for longer, up to a month. There are 1-2 cubs in the litter. According to some reports, a bat can live for three decades.

Until now, this animal remains an unusual creature for human understanding, mysterious and interesting. It will be studied for a long time, most likely, there are many surprising things that we do not know about these nocturnal beauties.

Chiroptera are small or medium-sized animals capable of real long flight. Their forelimbs are modified into wings: the forearm, metacarpal (metacarpal) bones and phalanges of all fingers, except for the first, are greatly elongated; a thin elastic flying membrane is stretched between the shoulder, forearm, fingers, sides of the body and hind limbs. The hind limbs are turned out so that the knees are facing dorsally. The auricles are usually large, sometimes huge in relation to the size of the body, in many with a well-developed skin protrusion - a tragus. The tail in most species is long, completely or partially enclosed in the interfemoral membrane; the free edge of this membrane is supported by a pair of cartilaginous or bone spurs extending from the heel. Along the base of the spur in many species stretches a kind of skin lobe - an epiblema.

The intermaxillary bones of the skull are always underdeveloped or even absent. There are all categories of teeth in the dental system. The middle pair of upper incisors is always absent. The lower incisors are very small. The fangs are large. The molars are divided into 3 natural groups: small premolars, large (or large) premolars and back (or proper) molars. The most complete dental formula looks like this:

The number of incisors, and especially small premolars, is of great importance in the generic taxonomy of bats. Deciduous teeth differ sharply from permanent ones not only in size, but also in shape.

The brain of bats is relatively large. There are furrows on the cerebral hemispheres. The auditory subcortical centers of the brain are especially strongly developed, which is associated with an unusually high development of hearing. The organs of vision in frugivorous species (bats and large leaf-bearers) are moderately developed, and in most species the eyes are small, and they probably see poorly both day and night.

Bats are distributed almost throughout the Earth to the polar borders of woody vegetation. They are absent only in the Arctic, Antarctic and some oceanic islands. Most numerous and diverse in tropical and subtropical regions. Their homeland is in the tropics of the Eastern Hemisphere, where their most primitive representatives are still preserved, allocated to a special suborder and family of bats (Pteropidae).

The aircraft and flight is the first feature that distinguishes bats from other animals. The unfolded wing of the animal is a soft (elastic) and solid (without cracks) cloth stretched between long fingers (like the spokes of an umbrella), large bones of the limbs and sides of the body. The plane of the wing is not flat, but in the form of a gently sloping dome. When the wing is lowered, the air filling the dome creates a temporary support, is forced out from under the dome under pressure and has an unequal effect on different parts of the wing. The anterior edge of the membrane, fixed on the humerus and radius, second and middle fingers, is firmly fixed, and its posterior edge folds upward under air pressure and, resting against a compacted strip of air displaced from under the dome, informs the animal of forward movement. This was traced in the sequential comparison of frames of the film, on which the animals were filmed during a normal rowing flight. A special form of rowing flight is fluttering flight, in which the animal lingers for a while at one point in the air, like a falcon or kestrel, but at the same time keeps its body almost in a vertical position. Sometimes the animal switches to gliding in the air with an almost stationary position of the wings. Such a flight of bats is called gliding or gliding. Only long soaring in the air and they were not observed.

In the course of the historical development of these animals, the aircraft and flight were improved. In fruit bats and the most ancient and primitive leather wings, wings are wide with almost rounded ends. They have a single shoulder joint: only the rounded surface of the shoulder head rests on the cup-shaped articular surface of the scapula; this allows the wing to make circular motions. The auricles of slow-flying animals are usually large and stick out to the sides. There is no interfemoral membrane, or it is small (in the form of lateral flaps), or it is folded with the tail to the upper side of the body and does not take part in flight. The flight of such animals is slow and unmaneuverable.

Most modern leather aircraft have become more perfect. On the shoulder blade they have a second articular (hyaline) surface (platform), on which a greatly enlarged tubercle of the humerus rests, located next to the head of the shoulder. When the hillock is supported on this platform, the wing is fixed in the raised state without the participation of muscles.

From leather in the structure of the aircraft and flight, long-winged ones reached special perfection. The terminal halves of their wings are greatly elongated (due to the elongation of the middle finger) and pointed at the ends. The auricles are so small that they barely protrude above the level of the fur, without disturbing the streamlining of the body. Due to the long bone spurs and the broad muscle connecting the spur and the lower leg, an inhibitory sac is formed from the extensive interfemoral membrane. The long-winged flight is very light and fast. It is often and correctly compared to the flight of swallows.

The highest perfection of the aircraft and flight reached the bulldogs. Their wings are very narrow, sickle-shaped, pointed. The auricles are large, but thick-skinned, flat, fused together above the forehead, and they are located in the same plane with the roof of a wide and flattened skull. In this position, the ears do not slow down, but cut through the air in a horizontal plane. In addition, the lop-eared head of the folded lip is separated from the body by a distinct cervical interception. On a long neck, the head becomes more mobile and performs the additional function of an elevator. When the head is raised, the animal directs the flight path upward, and when the head is tilted, it goes down. The interfemoral membrane in bulldogs is small and narrow. Spurs are long, thick, strong. The muscle that tightens the spur is wide. The bending of the interfemoral membrane and the formation of an inhibitory sac from it are carried out not only by pulling up the spurs, but also by bending the long muscular tail, which protrudes almost half the length of the edge of the membrane.

In this case, the bag turns out to be strong, but small, located under the lowest surface of the interfemoral membrane, behind the body. When the animal moves quickly, the air rushing into the narrow bag causes a sufficient braking effect. With a larger volume of the bag, the animal could probably roll over in the air.

Thus, with the improvement of flight, in addition to the wings with all their parts, the composition of the aircraft includes ears, head, neck, interfemoral membrane, tail.

Orientation in space is the second important feature of bats. Back in 1793, the Italian scientist L. Spallanzani, after many carefully conducted experiments, established that leather owls could fly freely in a dark room, where owls were completely helpless. Animals with closed eyes flew as well as sighted ones.

The Swiss biologist S. Zhyurin in 1794 confirmed Spallanzani's experiments and discovered a new important detail: if the ears of the animal were tightly clogged with wax, then it became helpless in flight and ran into any obstacles. Zhyurin suggested that the hearing organs of bats took over the function of vision. In the same year, Spallanzani repeated the experiments of his colleague and became convinced of the solidity of his assumption. The discoveries of these scientists then seemed absurd, did not find supporters, were rejected, ridiculed and soon forgotten.

The rejection and oblivion of the auditory theory of Zhurin and Spallanzani was facilitated by the new tactile theory of J. Cuvier (1795, 1800), according to which animals navigate in the dark with the help of touch, or, as it was later clarified, with the help of the sixth sense - touch at a distance. This (tactile) theory has been followed by biologists around the world for more than 110 years.

In 1912 X. Maxim (inventor of the heavy machine gun) and in 1920 X. Hartridge (English neurophysiologist) suggested that the "seeing with ears" paradox could be explained by the mechanism of echolocation. Their hypothesis also did not attract attention at first, and the tactile theory continued to be the only correct one.

Only in 1938, D. Griffin, in the laboratory of Harvard University (USA), discovered that brown bats and brown leatherettes, brought to an apparatus invented by G. Pierce for capturing and recording sounds of a wide range, emitted many sounds above the human hearing threshold, in the range of 30 000 - 70,000 Hz (oscillations per second). It was also found that the animals emit these sounds in the form of discrete impulses, lasting from 0.01 to 0.02 seconds, and the frequency of the impulses varied in different situations.

Since the beginning of the 40s of our century, the experimentally verified theory of ultrasonic echolocation, with the help of which flying animals orient themselves in space, has firmly entered science. But in the stream of articles on echolocation, the tactile theory, which biologists around the world adhered to for more than a century and a half, was not mentioned. It became unclear: do bats use touch at a distance, at least as a means, additional to echolocation?

To elucidate the role of various organs in the orientation of bats, AP Kuzyakin (1948) carried out a series of experiments. Even before them, a very important detail in the behavior of the animals was noted: out of two red evening bats and four forest bats released into the room during the day, half repeatedly and with great force (like birds just caught and released into the room) hit the glass of uncurtained windows. In orientation, the animals most of all “relied” on vision, the importance of which was not noted in most articles on echolocation.

To clarify the role of the tactile organs, each of the experimental forest bats and red evening bats was put on a head made of black thick paper. The tip of the funnel was cut off so that the animal could breathe freely through the hole. The back visor of the funnel was glued to the hair at the back of the head. Each animal with a black cap on its head that covered its eyes and ears turned out to be unable to fly. The animal, thrown into the air, opened its wings and, usually gliding, fell to the ground, and if it tried to fly, it hit the tree trunk or the wall of the building.

If, in addition to cutting off the end of the funnel, holes were also cut out against the ears (only the eyes remained closed), then the thrown animal certainly flew quickly and confidently, without bumping into trunks and small branches of crowns; soon, softly (without a blow), he landed on a trunk or branch, with the claw of the thumb of the wing tore off the rest of the funnel from his head and flew away already free. These experiments proved that in experimental animals the organs of touch did not play any role in orientation, and the organs of echolocation were sufficient for normal accurate flight, although the eyes of the animals were also open.

Not all bats use echolocation. No echolocation mechanism was found in most of the studied fruit bats. They navigate and find their food primarily by sight. Among them, only cave fruit bats emit weak orientational noise signals.

Leaf-nosed and desmodes are distinguished into a special group of "whispering" leathers. These animals emit signals 30-40 times weaker in intensity than the signals of leather, horseshoe, etc. In addition, their signals are filled with a mixture of various ultrasonic frequencies. These are noise signals.

In the small animal Aselia trideus from the horseshoe-labia family and in the fish-eater from the hare-lipped family, short frequency-modulated signals alternate with multi-frequency signals, depending on the situation.

Horseshoe bats have two kinds of signals. With a rough orientation in space, the horseshoe emits single signals up to 95 milliseconds long, and for a more subtle recognition of an object, each long signal is divided into a pack of 2-8 shorter pulses separated by pauses of 4-7 milliseconds. The more pulses in a pack, the shorter each of the pulses and each pause between them. At the same time, the intervals between bursts with continuous radiation remain approximately the same as in the regime of long single pulses, or are somewhat reduced. Both single signals and impulses in bursts are emitted by the horseshoe only during exhalation and only through the nasal openings (nostrils), which are comma-shaped and surrounded by bare leathery plates in the form of a horn (E. Sh. Air apetyants and A. I. Konstantinov, 1970 ).

In leather and bulldogs, the location signals are short (on the order of a few milliseconds). Leather ones emit impulses usually through the oral fissure, less often through the nasal openings. Some alternate emitting: if the mouth is occupied by a prey insect, they emit signals through the nostrils.

The mechanism of echolocation in Kozhanovs has reached a very high level of perfection. We cannot even imagine the range of sounds perceived by these animals. A person perceives vibrations whose frequencies lie in the range from about 20 to 16-20 thousand Hz. Kozhany, perceiving sounds of the same interval, also perceive ultrasounds, the frequency of which reaches 120-150 thousand Hz. They perceive not only an ultrasonic signal coming from another source, but also a reflection (echo) of their own signal. This is the first and main condition for the phenomenon of echolocation. They distinguish the reflection of "their" signal from a mixture of many other sound and ultrasonic waves.

By the speed of the return of the signal (echo), the animals determine the distance to the object (not only to the wall of the cave or the trunk of a tree, but also to such small creatures as a flying Drosophila fly). By reflection of the ultrasonic pulse, the animal accurately determines the shape and size of the object. In this sense, he “sees” objects with his perceiving (hearing) apparatus with no less accuracy than we perceive them with our organs of vision. The pointed-eared bat unmistakably distinguishes a metal square with smooth edges from the same square, on one side of which teeth 3 mm high are cut. Animals recognize targets of the same shape, but different sizes (in 80% of cases) with an area ratio of 1: 1, 1. In 86.6% of cases, the pointed-eared bat distinguishes targets that are the same in size and shape, but one of aluminum, the other of plywood, and in 92.7% the aluminum square differs from the plexiglass. The distance at which the animals recognize targets in experiments is about 2.5 m.

The pointed-eared bat found a wire with a diameter of 2 mm at a distance of up to 3.7 m, and a wire with a diameter of 0.2 mm at a distance of 1.1 le. The horseshoe carrier Megeli found wire 0.08 mm thick in 76.8% of spans.

Chiroptera also use the auditory analyzer when feeding - when searching for and catching insects flying in the air. They hear the noise from the wings of a flying insect and, possibly, the ultrasounds emitted by it at a distance of up to 4 m. Approaching the insect at an average distance of about 2.3 m, the animal speeds up the emission of signals. At a distance of less than 1 m, the frequency reaches 100 Hz, while in the brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) the impulses are perceived as a continuous buzzing before capturing the insect. This happens with well-flying animals of the leather family (moths and leathers).

Horseshoe bats, whose flying apparatus is less perfect, have developed a different adaptation when hunting for flying insects. The fact is that ultrasounds and their reflection are perceived not only by animals, but also by many flying insects, for which they hunt. Some moths can pick up the ultrasonic impulses of kozhanov at a distance of up to 30 m. An insect that has fallen into the path of the ultrasonic beam is in a more advantageous position than a flying animal. Having detected the signal of the animal, the insect changes the direction of flight or falls into a state of shock: it folds its wings and falls to the ground. The non-buzzing insect is not detected by the leather. But if an insect flies away from the ultrasonic beam of a flying animal, then the animal, approaching, is the first to detect the buzzing of prey and starts chasing. In well-flying animals, when chasing, ultrasonic impulses become more frequent, already directed towards the insect, but the horseshoe bat, which does not “count” on the speed of its flight, ceases to emit impulses at all, becomes numb, thereby disorienting its prey and successfully overtakes it. Only after eating the extracted insect, the horseshoe again begins to emit ultrasounds.

The piscivorous animal Noctilio leporinus from the family of haricotids clearly reacts to the slightest disturbance of the water from fish swimming near the surface, and to the dorsal fin or head of the fish protruding from the water, and seizes the discovered fish with its claws.

The directionality and accuracy of such migrations cannot be explained by mechanical, visual, or echolocation orientation.

The body temperature of leather and horseshoe-nosed animals varies depending on the condition of the animal. In the active state, in the small horseshoe bat, the body temperature varies from 34.4 to 37.4 °, and in 13 species of leather horseshoes - from 35 to 40.6 °. However, as soon as the animal falls asleep (on a summer day), its body temperature drops to 15-29 °, i.e., approximately to the air temperature in the room where the animal is located. In the state of hibernation, which normally proceeds in caves with temperatures from 0 to 10 ° C, the animals have the same body temperature.

The leather ones are not characterized by constancy, but by changes in body temperature within 56 ° (from -7.5 to +48.5 °). We are not aware of other warm-blooded animals in which body temperature would vary within the same wide range.

The biology of reproduction of bats has its own characteristics. In some fruit bats, the uterus is double, like in marsupials, and in most leatherflies it is bicornuate, like in insectivores and rodents. But in other bats, such as the American leaf-bearers, the uterus is simple, like in primates. Two mammary glands in all animals of this order, like in primates, are located on the chest; nipples are usually one pair (breast). Very few species of kozhan have two pairs of nipples located in pairs on one pair of mammary glands. The genital organs of males are the same as those of higher primates. According to the structure of the reproductive system, the similarity of bats with primates is greater than with any other orders of higher animals.

Many inhabitants of tropical countries have two cycles of maturation of reproductive products per year, two mating seasons and two offspring. In each offspring, in most modern bats, as in primates, only one cub will be born, in a few - two, and only in exceptional cases (in two northern species) will be born 3 cubs at a time.

With the resettlement of bats from the tropics (from their homeland) to countries with a temperate and cold climate, twice a year breeding became impossible. In temperate climates, there has been a transition from two breeding cycles to one per year. But in males and females, this transition occurred in different ways.

The maturation of reproductive products in males goes from spring to autumn, and in females - from autumn to spring. Mating of some adult females with males occurs in late summer and early autumn. Other adult and young females mate in the spring. In females after autumn mating in winter, viable spermatozoa are found in the genital tract. Since there are no mature eggs in autumn, fertilization cannot occur during autumn mating. A long-term (up to 6-7 months) preservation of spermatozoa in the genital tract of females (after autumn mating) and in the tubules of the epididymis in males has been established. During spring mating, insemination with spermatozoa of last year's (summer) spermiogenesis occurs and the fertilization of the egg immediately follows.

In recent years, Soviet zoologists have established many interesting details in the biology of the mating season of bats. At the end of summer (according to the observations of K.K. Panyutin in the Voronezh Reserve), the males of the red evenings leave the clusters of females, and each male chooses a special small hollow for himself. In the evenings, the male crawls out to the flight hole (the entrance to the hollow) and from time to time makes unusual sounds that are unusual for another period. This is not a shrill squeak or frequently repeated sounds like the sonorous barking of a small dog, but a melodic and not very loud chirp. Females are attracted by such a serenade of the male, they fly to him and temporarily settle in his hollow.

In dwarf bats, the behavior is almost the same as in red evenings. Only the male dwarf sings a serenade in flight, and sits silently in the shelter. In both species, males do not chase females, do not pursue them. Females themselves look for males and join them themselves. Cohabitation during the period when the reproductive system of females is at rest indicates the similarity of kozhanovyh with primates.

Even more amazing details of mating life are found in northern leather jackets, earflaps and night bats (three types), wintering in the north of our country - in the Leningrad and Novgorod regions - in the areas of their summer habitation in caves with a regime suitable for winter hibernation (low positive temperature and high air humidity).

Observations by P.P. Strelkov showed that among the females of the mentioned species flying into wintering caves, only 14% were inseminated. In the middle of winter, there were already more than half of inseminated females, and by the end of hibernation (by spring), all the females were inseminated. The bulk of females are inseminated during deep winter hibernation, when the animals do not feed and most of the time are in a state of deep stupor, and their body temperature is lowered to 2-3 °, breathing and heart contractions are slowed down tens and hundreds of times compared to the active state. . It has not yet been clarified who is more active at this time - male or female. Judging by the behavior of migratory bats and evening bats, females are more active.

The period of embryonic development depends on the weather (or air temperature in the spring shelter) and on the number of females in the colony. The higher the temperature of the environment in which the pregnant female is located, the faster the development of the embryo in her body. Pregnant females actively seek to form large aggregations, to unite with each other and to be placed in a shelter in dense groups in which one female is pressed close to the others. With this arrangement, even in sleeping females, the body temperature becomes higher than the ambient temperature in the shelter, which accelerates the development of embryos. Such a phenomenon of collective thermoregulation was noticed and then studied in detail by K. K. Panyutin.

Most species of kozhanovyh will give birth to one cub. In bats and long-winged bats, the embryo always develops only in the right horn of the uterus.

At the moment of childbirth, the female earflap is suspended in a horizontal position (belly up), holding onto the ceiling with all limbs, or in a vertical position, but with her head up. The cub rolls out into the cavity formed by the interfemoral membrane bent to the belly. The afterbirth is eaten by the female. Horseshoe bats and fruit bats give birth, obviously, hanging upside down, and their cub falls into the cavity between the belly and wings folded in front. In captivity, childbirth occurs with various complications. In females of the same colony, childbirth stretches from several hours to 10-15 days. Large horseshoe bats (in Tashkent) give birth at the end of May; Bukhara horseshoe bats, dwarf bats (in Central Asia) and other leather species (in the Moscow region) give birth in the second half of June.

The baby will be born large. In a small horseshoe bat, for example, the mass of a newborn is more than 40% of the mass of the mother, but his body is naked, his eyes are closed, the auricles are randomly wrinkled, and the mouth opening is small. At the moment of birth, the cub already emits a sonorous squeak, and, having barely dried, crawls over the mother's body to her breast nipple. The jaws of a newborn are seated with milk teeth; one, two or three sharp apices of the milk tooth are curved inwards. With these teeth, the cub is strengthened on the mother's nipple and in the first days of life clings to the nipple without opening its mouth. In horseshoe bats, the cub clings to the mastoid appendages in the inguinal region that are not connected with the mammary glands, moving to the breast nipples only for the time of feeding.

Females of some leather species in the first days after birth fly out to feed along with their offspring. At the same time, one or two cubs hang on it, holding only their mother's nipples with their teeth. Later, these females, and from the first days, females of other species leave their cubs in the shelter and return to them after chasing insects in the air. During the feeding of their parents, the cubs huddle in groups, forming something like a nursery or kindergarten. The returning females feed the cubs in the first days with milk, and a few grown-up ones, probably, with the insects they brought. The female Bukhara horseshoe bat, for example, accurately finds and feeds only her cub, driving away strangers. Some other females feed any of the hungry cubs they meet. For example, a female forest bat fed (in the wild, in her shelter) a cub of a two-colored leather. Having eaten, the cub strengthens itself next to its mother or remains until the next flight on her body. The female horseshoe bat wraps the cub in wide wings while resting.

The babies are growing very fast. By the end of the first week, the mass of the cub doubles. The body is covered with short hairs. Previously shriveled auricles rise, acquiring a normal appearance. The eyes of the forest bat open on the 3-4th day, those of the long-eared bat - on the 5-6th day. The bones of the skull are already fused (the sutures between them disappear). During the second week, in the presence of milk teeth, permanent ones begin to erupt. The fur becomes thicker and taller. At the end of the second week, the calf's body can already heat up on its own (up to 33° and above). In small leathers and horseshoe bats, in the third week of life, the change of milk teeth to permanent ones is already over and the ability to fly is acquired. In terms of mass, they are still noticeably inferior to adults, but in size (especially wings) they almost reach their parents. Soon the first molt in life passes. The dull youthful hairline is replaced by fur, as in adults. The animals also begin to behave like an adult: for example, Bukhara horseshoe bats at the age of 30-45 days already independently and alone embark on a long journey - to other countries (to caves) for a long winter.

Even before complete independence, about 30-50% of the animals in the colony die. For 8-9 years there is an almost complete change of livestock. But some individuals live up to 19-20 years. The record of longevity among leather belongs to brown bat(Myotis lucifugus) is a small animal weighing only 6-7 g. One brown bat lived in natural conditions for 24 years.

The nutrition of leather animals living in tropical countries is varied. For example, some leaf-bearers of tropical America probably secondarily adapted to feeding on juicy fruits and flower nectar. Close to leaf-nosed desmodes have adapted to feeding on the blood of higher vertebrates. They attack some birds, wild and domestic mammals, and sometimes sleeping people. One of Panama leaf-beetles (Phyllostomus hastatus) and South Indian spear(Lyroderma lyra) prefer small birds and animals to all other types of food. Some bats and harelips feed almost exclusively on small fish and aquatic invertebrates. However, the vast majority of tropical and all from countries with a temperate and cold climate eat mainly flying insects that are active during the twilight and night hours.

Hunting for flying insects is carried out at a very fast pace. The small brown bat in its natural setting made 1159 throws for insects in one hour, and brown leather(Vespertilio fuscus) - 1283 rolls. Even if in half of the cases the animals missed, the rate of catching was about 500-600 insects per hour. In the laboratory, the brown bat managed to catch about 20 fruit flies in 1 minute and often captured two insects within one second. The red evening worm ate (almost continuously) 115 flour worms one after another in half an hour, increasing its body weight by almost 1/3. During the evening feeding in nature, the water bat ate up to 3-3.2 g, which was also about 1/3 of its mass.

Large leather ones easily overcome relatively large insects. A dwarf bat hunting near a lamp catches small butterflies and from time to time pounces on a flying hawk moth, trying to capture the insect's thick belly with its small mouth. Evening bats and real kozhany prefer to catch beetles, and large bats and horseshoe bats - nocturnal butterflies; dwarf bats catch small Diptera and small scoops. Some nocturnal cocoon-worms (of the genus Dendrolimnus) are caught by bats, bats and horseshoe bats, but not eaten.

Only in cool and windy weather, some bats and late kozhans catch flightless (crawling) insects. Wushan catches flightless insects even in good weather. He grabs them by quickly running along a horizontal branch of a tree or from the ends of branches and leaves, while stopping for some moment at one point in airspace (before the end of a leaf or branch). When the weather is cool in the evenings, some animals (for example, northern leatherbacks, whiskered bats, etc.) can hunt for insects during the day when it is warmer.

Usually leather (and horseshoe bats) feed at twilight or night hours. Long-winged bats, long-winged bats, pointed-eared bats, and tube-nosed bats feed only at night. They fly once a day. However, most leather bats (bats, many night bats, all evening bats, etc.) are crepuscular species. They are active twice a day - in the evening and early in the morning (at dawn). The evening flight begins either shortly after sunset (at the bats and evening bats), or when dusk is gathering (at the water bat). During the evening departure, the animals are mainly busy hunting for insects. With an abundance of insects, dwarf bats, for example, manage to get enough in 15-20 minutes. Usually, feeding lasts about 40-50 minutes and less often - 1.5-2 hours. Having sated, the animals return to their daytime shelters, spend a significant part of the night there, and fly out again before dawn. On this morning, more friendly and short-term departure, many animals do not move away from their shelter, circle in a swarm in the immediate vicinity of it and do not catch insects.

In countries with a cold and temperate climate, the number of nocturnal flying insects is relatively small, and their activity is timed only for the warm season of the year. These features of the food of the bulk of the leather ones determine many features of their biology: the nature of quantitative accumulations, local migrations, long-distance migrations and hibernation, a reduction in the number of offspring per year to one, etc.

Shelters (such as burrows or nests) are not built by bats themselves. They settle in natural shelters or built by other animals and humans. A variety of shelters can be divided into the following groups: caves (natural, such as karst) and cavernous underground structures (such as mines); cavities under the domes of Mohammedan mausoleums, tombs and mosques; shelters directly related to human habitation (attics, cavities under eaves, behind sheathing, shutters, platbands); tree hollows and occasional shelters.

Caves and underground structures have a relatively stable microclimate. In the caves located in the north, for example, in the Leningrad region or in the Middle Urals, for a long time (for months) the low positive temperature of the environment, about 0-10 ° C, is maintained. Such conditions are very favorable for hibernation, but in summer these caves are usually empty. In the south of Turkmenistan there is a wonderful Bakhardenskaya cave with a large underground lake, the water in which even at the end of winter is heated to 32-33 ° C. In summer, tens of thousands of long-winged, hundreds of pointed-eared bats and dozens of horseshoe bats (three species) live in this cave. But in winter, in such a cave, due to the high temperature, the animals cannot hibernate, only an insignificant part of them remains (in the cool side passages of the front section of the cave).

In summer, the cavities under the domes of tombs and mosques are willingly populated by cave bats and horseshoe bats, but in winter these rooms freeze through and therefore are uninhabited.

Shelters in human housing for some leather ones are the main ones, and the bats themselves have become the same house species, like some rodents (house mice and rats) or some birds (like gray doves, sparrows, barn swallows, etc.) - In our country, such brownies types of steel, for example, late leather, dwarf bat, leather-like bat, etc.

Tree hollows are readily inhabited by many night bats, evening bats, forest bats, ear bats only in summer, and in winter due to low wintering temperatures (in the middle and northern regions) they do not happen.

Random shelters are extremely diverse. They are inhabited mainly by widespread and ecologically plastic species (northern kozhanok, mustachioed bat, two-colored kozhan and a few others). Small accumulations or individual animals of these species were found, for example, in the burrows of sand martins, in piles of firewood, in haystacks, etc. Herding (formation of colonies) is characteristic of most chiropteran species. In one colony there can be from two or three individuals to several million animals living in one shelter.

In the south of the United States (32 km from the city of San Antonio) is the Bracken Cave, in which up to 20,000,000 Brazilian folded lips (Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana) settle in some years in the summer. The departure of such a multitude of animals stretches from 16:00 to 22:00, and the return to the cave - from 24:00 to 12:00. Under the conditions of such accumulation of animals, a peculiar microclimate is created in the cave: the air is saturated with ammonia, carbon dioxide stagnates near the floor, the humidity is high and the air temperature reaches 40 ° C. The cave quickly fills with droppings, and only annual cleaning (removal of guano to fertilize the fields) allows the animals to settle there every summer. In autumn, folded lips fly south to Colombia. Only females return back, while males linger in Mexico.

Of the leather ones, the long-winged ones achieved the greatest skill in flight. They form the largest (among leather) clusters in one summer shelter. So, in the Bakhardenskaya cave (in Turkmenistan) at the end of the 30s of our century, according to our calculations, there were about 40,000 individuals in the colony when they left for feeding.

In other leather and horseshoe bats in summer colonies there are only up to several hundred, less often - up to 3000-4000 individuals. A greater number of them could not feed on the distance that they can cover during their flight, moderate in speed and not long enough in endurance. The size of a summer colony is often determined by the perfection of the aircraft, the speed and endurance of flight, and the abundance of food (nocturnal flying insects). This applies to accumulations of animals of one single species.

Mixed colonies, which include animals of two or more species, do not obey this rule, since different species feed on different groups of insects, at different flight altitudes, and one species does not interfere with the other in search of its food.

Bats of some species even prefer to settle in commonwealth (in colonies) with other species. For example, single giant evenings are usually found in colonies of red evenings and forest bats. The southern horseshoe bats in the Bakharden cave did not gather in a separate cluster, like the Mediterranean horseshoe bats in the same cave, but singly climbed into isolated heaps of thousands of long-winged. In the south of Western Europe, in the Caucasus and Central Asia, it is found tricolor night bat(Myotis emarginatus). Nobody ever found her in a shelter (in a cave or under the dome of a mosque), if there were no horseshoe bats there. Commonwealth with horseshoe bats turned out to be a characteristic biological feature of this species of bat.

Large and usually mixed colonies (up to 14 species) form in caves favorable for hibernation.

The desire to unite with each other, the herd instinct in bats is so strongly developed that sometimes it deprives them of their freedom or life. A burdock branch with five mummies of the dead on its prickly earflaps was sent to the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR from the Ussuri Territory. Apparently, on the alarm signal of one earflap, accidentally entangled in thorns, others flew in and also died.

Enemies of insectivorous bats, fortunately, are not numerous. Owls, owls attack flying animals, however, even among owls, bats are only an occasional prey, an addition to their main food. The hawk Machaeo-rhamphus living in the tropics of the Old World prefers bats to other prey.

A variety of mites are found on almost all species and often in large numbers. The leather mite (Ixodes vespertilionis) lives on hairy areas of the body and, when fed, takes on a bean-like shape. Others, like Spinturnix mystacinus, live exclusively on the surface of the membranes.

On some, especially smooth-haired leather ones (vessels, bats, long-winged bugs), 2 types of bed bugs feed: the common bed bug (Cimex lectula-rius) and the bat bug (C. pipistrelli) close to it.

2) fresh droppings (guano) - fly larvae and beetles that eat the larvae.

In shelters that are vast in size and densely populated by animals, the population of cohabitants reaches greater complexity and diversity. So, in the Bakharden cave, in close mutual dependence, there are more than 40 species of animals that form a complex biocenotic complex. The main, leading part of this complex is made up of long-winged bats, in much smaller numbers - pointed-eared bats and horseshoe bats (Zvida).

The practical significance of small bats (leather) is predominantly positive. Only desmodes (vampires) of South America, which feed on the blood of vertebrates, and sometimes humans, are considered harmful. The main harm caused by them is associated not so much with the loss of blood, but with the transmission of rabies virus and pathogenic trypanosis by desmods. The rabies virus has also been found in South European leatherbacks, but it is not yet clear how they can contract the disease.

Even the frugivorous leaf-bearers of South and Central America are not considered harmful. They feed on the juicy fruits of wild trees not used by humans. The plucked fruits are often eaten not at the place of their growth, but are transferred to other places convenient for the animals. Small seeds of many fruit trees that have passed through the digestive tract of leaf-bearing plants do not lose their ability to germinate. Therefore, large leaf-bearers are regarded more as distributors of tree species.

Long-tongued leaf-nosed plants contribute to the pollination of plants. In some species of tropical trees, pollination is carried out only with the participation of leaf-bearing plants.

The vast majority of bats in tropical countries and all species of the fauna of the USSR are only beneficial, destroying many harmful insects.

Large leatherflies eat harmful night butterflies and beetles, while small bats, bats, long-winged bats and long-winged bats destroy many small Diptera, including mosquitoes (vectors of malaria) and mosquitoes (vectors of Leishmania). Dwarf bats destroy a lot of mosquitoes and mosquitoes all summer. Longwings of the Bakharden colony alone (about 40,000 individuals) ate about 150 kg of food in one night, or about 1.5 million insects the size of an average flour worm.

Some other indicators also indicate a noticeable effect of kozhanovyh on the decrease in the number of insects. Under the influence of a highly developed herd instinct, these animals everywhere strive to unite with each other. In the presence of favorable shelters, they accumulate to the limit, which is only possible with the usual food reserves of the area. In the case of complete (saturated) colonization, the leatherflies of each species occupy shelters and eat insects according to their specialization. Differing in the species composition of food, in time and duration of flight, in areas and air layers of feeding, animals from dusk to dawn are busy chasing insects when their partners (insectivorous birds) are sleeping. If there is not enough food in this area, the animals change the place of feeding or even migrate to other, more forage areas. During periods of mass appearance of flying insects (for example, May or June beetles), the evening and kozhan that eat them eat more than normal and quickly get fat, although in other periods these animals are not fat. With a tendency to obesity, the moderate fatness of the bulk of the animals during most of the season of activity indicates that they exterminate insects to the minimum possible and do not have an excess for accumulating fat reserves.

Bat droppings are a high-quality fertilizer. In terms of nitrogen and phosphorus content, it is many times superior to other natural fertilizers. A large accumulation of guano in the caves of Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Crimea and the Carpathians can be used to fertilize the gardens and fields closest to the caves with valuable garden and industrial crops.

Bats are of considerable interest as irreplaceable objects for solving a number of general biological and technical problems. Lowering body temperature is now used to treat certain human diseases.

The flight mechanics of Kozhanovs has long attracted the attention of designers of non-powered aircraft. In the first models, the wings were made of solid panels, structurally similar to leather wings.

Many institutes and laboratories in different countries are engaged in a detailed study of echolocation, which is of not only theoretical but also great practical interest.

The task of the future is to study the mechanism of geographical orientation, which is so well developed in bats.

There are no harmful bats in the fauna of the Soviet Union. All of them bring greater or lesser benefits and deserve every possible protection and attraction.

We are talking about both the direct protection of the animals themselves, and the protection of their shelters, especially rare shelters favorable for hibernation (caves and artificial underground structures). By cutting down hollow trees (summer shelters for bats), we deprive them of the opportunity to settle in forest parks or forest areas.

In attracting Kozhanovs in the southern regions of our country, it may be the improvement of existing caves and other underground structures (abandoned mines, mines, etc.), clearing blocked entrances or, conversely, closing unnecessary, especially conspicuous and accessible openings. By reducing the number and area of ​​entrances to underground cavities, better microclimatic conditions are created (in particular, the elimination of drafts, an increase in air humidity), favorable not only for summer habitation, but also for wintering. In the southern caves, not only local animals winter, but also those arriving from the northern regions.

In forest areas and parks where hollow trees are systematically removed, leather can be attracted by hanging nest boxes with a rounded flight hole (for evening parties, water bats, earflaps, etc.) bats, two-colored leathers, etc. You can strengthen nest boxes on the side of the trunk free from knots at a height of 3-4 to 7-8 le, it is better at the edge of a forest or park, at an alley, clearing or forest clearing, and especially near the shore of a lake or pond .

About 1000 species of bats are grouped into 2 suborders:

1) fruit bats (Pteropoidei) with one family (Ptero-pidae) and

2) leather or bats (Vespertilioidei), with 14 families; one of them - the family of glue-legs (Natalidae) - some taxonomists divide into 3 families. The fauna of the USSR includes 40 species from 3 families of only the second suborder.

Animals of Russia. Directory

- (Chiroptera) detachment from the class of mammals. R. are capable of long active flight. The forelimbs are turned into wings, only the first finger remains free: the phalanges of the other fingers, the metacarpal bones and the forearm are elongated and serve ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

uh; pl. Zool. An order of mammals with limbs adapted for flight, which includes bats. * * * Chiroptera order of mammals. The forelimbs are turned into wings. Capable of flight. 2 suborders of fruit bats and bats ... encyclopedic Dictionary

This is a list of mammal species found in Argentina. As of February 2011, there are a total of 398 mammal species in Argentina, of which one is extinct (EX), six are critically endangered ... ... Wikipedia

Includes 203 species of mammals living in Bhutan. Contents 1 Subclass: Animals (Theria) 1.1 Infraclass: Placental (Eutheria) ... Wikipedia

It includes about 300 species of the class Mammals living or living in historical time on the territory of Russia, as well as species introduced and forming stable populations. Contents 1 Order Rodents (Rodentia) 1.1 Squirrel family ... ... Wikipedia

Mammals listed in the Red Book of Ukraine a list of 68 species of rare and endangered mammals included in the latest edition of the Red Book of Ukraine (2009). Compared to the previous edition (1994), the edition ... ... Wikipedia

Order Chiroptera, general characteristics.

Chiroptera are the only mammals capable of true, sustained, active flight. Body sizes from 3 to 40 centimeters, wingspan from 18 to 150 centimeters, weight from 4 to 900 grams. This order includes the smallest mammal of the myrrh fauna, Craseonycteris thonglongyai, recently discovered in the tropical forests of Thailand.

The body of bats is flattened dorso-ventrally. Their forelimbs are modified into wings: the forearm, metacarpal (metacarpal) bones and phalanges of the fingers (except for the first, which is free) are excessively elongated; a thin elastic flying membrane is stretched between the shoulder, forearm, fingers, sides of the body and hind limbs. The position of the hind limbs is unusual: the thighs are deployed at right angles to the body and in the same plane with it, the glens are directed back and to the sides. The auricles are relatively large and well developed. Most species have a tragus - a vertically standing skin outgrowth extending from the front edge of the auditory opening. The tail in most species is long, completely or partially enclosed in an intercostal membrane; the free edge of this membrane is supported by a pair of cartilaginous or bone spurs extending from the heel. Along the base of the spur, in many species, a peculiar leathery lobe, the epiblema, stretches. An example of the appearance of Vespers is given.

The hairline on the body is well developed: the alar and usually the interfemoral membranes are covered with very sparse and thin hairs and therefore appear naked. The coloration is usually dull, brown and gray tones predominate.

The skeleton is characterized by well-developed clavicles and the presence of a small keel on the sternum. In most species, an additional articulation between the scapula and the humerus develops to strengthen the shoulder joint. The fibula and ulna are greatly reduced.

The sutures of the skull disappear early and are difficult to distinguish in adult animals. In the anterior part of the roof of the nasal section, there is a differently developed nasal notch. Most groups of bats are characterized by underdevelopment, and sometimes the absence of intermaxillary bones, as a result of which the hard palate in most groups has a deep anterior palatine notch in front.

There are all categories of teeth in the dental system. The middle pair of upper incisors is always absent. The lower incisors are very small. Canine teeth (especially the upper ones) are large, typical of carnivorous forms. The molars are divided into three natural groups: small premolars (anteromolars) - praemolares are small, single-top, conical, each with a single root; their number varies and is of great importance in the recognition of genera and species. From the many spongy posterior molars - molars (M and m) they are separated by large pre-molars characteristic of chiropterans (before non-molars) - praemolares prominantes, the tops of which almost reach the level of the top of the canines; each is provided with two roots. Sharply spongy teeth. Dairy ones are very different from regular ones. The dental formula looks like this:

I 2-1/3-1, C 1/1, P 3-1/3-2, M 3-1/3-1 = 38 – 20

All species of European fauna feed on insects, which are captured and eaten on the fly. Due to the nature of food containing solid chitinous formations, the epithelium of the esophagus becomes keratinized. The stomach is simple or double. The intestine is unusually short (only 1.5 - 4 times the length of the body), the caecum is small or absent. The extreme poverty of the intestinal flora is characteristic. Penile bone is usually present. The shape of the uterus is varied. The surface of the brain is smooth, the olfactory lobes are greatly reduced, the cerebellum is not closed by the hemispheres.

Each species of bats has its own diet, which includes different groups of arthropods in certain portions. There are also different foraging strategies: some catch insects on the fly, others collect from the substrate. In almost all bats, insects of the orders predominate in the diet: Diptera and Lepidoptera. Many bats (water bat, dwarf bat, forest bat, small evening bat, northern kozhanok, two-colored kozhan) hunt over water in clusters of small insects. In large ones: red evening and late leather, insects with hard covers - May beetles, dung beetles - aphodias, real dung beetles make up a large proportion of food. In the food of the mustachioed bat, Natterer's bat, water bat, brown long-eared bat, there are many arthropods that do not fly or are active during the day - evidence of a collective foraging strategy. The mustachioed bat and the long-eared bat most often eat mosquitoes - long-legged (Tipulidae), and the Natterer's bat - flies (Brachycera). Long-eared bats, Natterer's bats, and brown-eared bats also eat harvest spiders (Opiliones). All bats prefer larger food objects; insects less than 3 mm long are almost completely ignored by them. The diet is dominated by the imaginal stages of insects. Caterpillars of scoops and moths are found only in bats and bats, and terrestrial gastropod mollusks are found in the late kozhan.

The preference of bats for certain habitats, in particular, clearings and ponds, as well as internal and external ecotones of forests, has been established. Chiroptera visit coniferous forests least of all, low activity was registered over pastures, scrub wastelands and in mixed forests. Differences in the use of different types of habitats by bats are related to the levels of diversity and abundance of insects in different biotopes. A systematic survey of summer habitats also made it possible to note one feature in the behavior of bats - the close correspondence of flyways to linear elements of the landscape: paths, green hedges, alleys, canals. Small species (water and pond bat, Natterer’s bat, dwarf, forest bat, brown long-eared bat) always adhere to linear landscape elements and almost never cross open spaces, while larger species (late leather bat, red evening bat) behave more regardless of the linear elements of the landscape.

Bats feed on crepuscular and nocturnal insects that are not available to reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals that lead a daytime lifestyle. In the temperate zone, bats act as one of the strongest regulators of the number of nocturnal and crepuscular insects. Under the influence of a highly developed gregarious instinct, these animals tend to unite with each other and, under favorable conditions, accumulate to the limit that is possible with the usual food reserves of the area. In the case of complete (saturated) settlement, each species occupies a shelter and eats insects according to its specialization. Differing in the species composition of food, in time and duration, in areas and vertical feeding zones, bats act throughout the entire dark half of the day in all areas and in all vertical zones. At the same time, destroying not some insignificant part of nocturnal and twilight insects, but reducing their number to the minimum necessary to maintain their population. If food becomes scarce in a given area, bats change their feeding place or even migrate to other more forage places. The role of bats in nature and for humans is very important.

All bats are nocturnal or crepuscular animals.

The leading sense organ is hearing. Orientation in space and detection of prey is carried out due to the perception of reflected ultrasonic signals (echo location). They emit ultrasonic signals regardless of audible sounds and regardless of the act of breathing (both during inhalation and exhalation). The audibility range is very wide - from 12 to 100,000 Hz oscillations per second, the signal duration is from 0.2 to 100ms. This indicates an exceptionally high hearing acuity, while the eyesight of the majority is poorly developed, so that bats see poorly regardless of the time of day. Experiments were carried out in 1793 by Abbot Lazare Spallanzani, he collected bats at dawn and brought them to his house and released them there, thin threads were stretched from ceiling to floor. Releasing each mouse, Spallanzani sealed its eyes with wax. But not a single blind mouse touched the thread. The Swiss naturalist Charles Jurin found out about Spallanzani's experiments, and he repeated them. Then Charles Jurin plugged their ears with wax. The result was unexpected: the bats stopped distinguishing the surrounding objects, began to stumble on the walls, as if they were blind. Sound, as you know, is an oscillatory motion that propagates in waves in an elastic medium. The human ear hears only sounds with an oscillation frequency of 16 to 20 kilohertz. Higher-frequency acoustic vibrations are already ultrasound, which we cannot hear. Using ultrasounds, bats "feeling" the surroundings, fill the space around them, reduced by darkness, to the nearest observable objects. In the larynx of a bat, the vocal cords are stretched in the form of peculiar strings, which, vibrating, produce a sound. The larynx in its structure resembles a whistle. The air exhaled from the lungs rushes through it in a whirlwind, a “whistling” of a very high frequency occurs. The bat can intermittently block the flow of air. The air pressure passing through the larynx is twice that of a steam boiler. In the larynx of a bat, short-term sound vibrations are excited - ultrasonic pulses. Per second follows from 5 to 60, and some from 10 to 100 pulses. Each impulse lasts two to five thousandths of a second (horseshoe bats have five to ten hundredths of a second). The brevity of the audio signal is a very important physical factor. It is only thanks to him that accurate echolocation is possible, that is, orientation with the help of ultrasounds. From the time interval between the end of the sent signal and the first sounds of the returning echo, the bat gets an idea of ​​the distance to the object that reflected the sound. That is why the sound pulse is so short. Experiments have shown that before the start, the bat emits only five to ten ultrasonic pulses. In flight, they increase to thirty. When approaching an obstacle, ultrasonic pulses follow even faster up to 50 - 60 times per second.

The bat sonar is a very accurate navigational device, it is able to locate an object with a diameter of only 0.1 millimeters.

From the beginning, it was thought that only small insectivorous bats like bats and bats had natural echo sounders, while large flying foxes and dogs that eat fruits in tropical forests seemed to be deprived of them, but it has been proven that all bats are endowed with echo sounders. In flight, rosetuses click their tongues all the time. The sound breaks out at the corners of the mouth, which are always ajar in rosetus.

Recently, researchers have mainly identified three types of natural sonars: whispering, chanting, chirping, or frequency-modulating.

Whispering bats live in the American tropics. Many of them feed on fruits, but also catch insects on the leaves of plants. Their echo sounding signals are very short and very quiet clicks. Each sound lasts a thousandth of a second and is very weak. Typically, their echo sounder operates at frequencies of 150 kilohertz.

Horseshoes are chanting. They are named horseshoe bats for the outgrowths on the muzzle, in the form of leathery horseshoes with a double ring surrounding the nostrils and mouth. The growths are a kind of megaphone that directs sound signals in a narrow beam in the direction where the bat is looking. Horseshoe bats send ultrasounds into space, not through the mouth, but through the nose.

The American brown bat starts its chirping sound with a frequency of about 90 kilohertz, and ends it at 45 kilohertz.

Frequency - modulating echo sounder and in bats - fishermen, breaking through the water column, their chirring is reflected from the swim bladder of fish, and its echo returns to the fisherman.

In countries with a temperate climate, bats make seasonal flights, migrations, and in suitable shelters fall into hibernation. The body temperature of a bat outside the period of activity depends on the ambient temperature and can vary from -7.5º to + 48.5º. Most bats have a developed social instinct and settle in colonies. With a small overall size, life expectancy is high, some individuals live up to 15-20 years.

In temperate latitudes, there is only one generation annually, but there are exceptions, for example, bulldog bats have three broods per year. The mating period is extended from autumn to spring, spermatozoa after coitus remain in the genital tract of females all winter. Ovulation and fertilization occur in the spring. The female gives birth to one or two cubs. But there are also exceptions, such as, hairy-tailed smooth-nosed, they have up to four cubs, but there are known cases of the birth of five cubs.

Variation and morphism can be characterized as follows. The development of the young is very fast. On the third - sixth week of life, young individuals already reach the size of their parents, retaining the difference only in the darker and duller color of the juvenile fur and in the cartilaginous formations at the ends of long bones (metacarpal, phalanges). After the first (juvenile) molt, which ends at the age of one to two months, the young individual already loses its difference from the adult in color. Individual variability is negligible, most characters are remarkably stable. Seasonal morphisms are manifested only in the character (height, silkiness) of the fur and in the tone or color of its color. Geographical variability (color and size) is distinct in many species. Sexual dimorphism is not expressed at all or expressed, but very weakly. Color polymorphism is not uncommon.

Bats are one of the thriving groups of mammals. The general direction of the evolution of the detachment followed the path of mastering the airspace, that is, the improvement of flight abilities. It is likely that bats originate from primitive arboreal insectivores. It is customary to represent the ancestors of Chiroptera as mammals of the type of the modern colewing, which initially possessed adaptations for gliding flight, on the basis of which, through evolution, their descendants switched to active flight.

The wings of the lizards - pterodactyls were stretched besides the shoulder and forearm on a very long little finger. In bats, the wing membrane is supported by the bones of four very long fingers. The third finger is usually equal to the length of the head, body plus legs. Only the end of the first, that is, thumb, finger is free, protrudes from the front edge of the membrane and is equipped with a sharp claw. In most fruit bats, a tiny claw of the second finger is also free. The fingers of the hind limbs - with claws and from the membrane are free, they, resting during the day or in hibernation, cling to branches or other objects. The muscles that move the wings account for only 7% of the animal's weight (in birds, an average of 17%). However, on the sternum of bats, a small bird-like keel rises, to which the main of these muscles are attached.

There are approximately 1000 species in the chiroptera order, which is ¼ of all mammals. The age of the most ancient of the found fossil representatives of bats, - however, already highly specialized, is 50 million years.

The distribution of the order covers the entire globe up to the polar borders of woody vegetation. Only the Far North, Antarctica and some oceanic islands are not inhabited by bats. Chiroptera are most numerous and diverse in tropical and subtropical regions.

The chiroptera order is divided into two distinct suborders:

1. Fruit bats (Megachiroptera) - fruit-eating forms from small to relatively large (wingspan up to 1.5 meters) in size, with primitive organizational features. About 150 species of fruit bats are combined into one family - Pteropidae.

2. Bats (Microchiroptera) are small animals. In the bulk, insectivorous, less often frugivorous, predatory and blood-sucking forms with a more specialized organization. The range of the suborder coincides with the range of the entire order. About 800 species of bats are grouped into 16 extant families.

In the European part of the mainland, representatives of only this suborder are found. They number 34 species and belong to 3 families:

1. Horseshoe bats. Rhinolophidae.

2. Bulldog bats. Molossidae.

3. Common bats. Vespertilionidae.

Bats are very important in nature and human life. Along with insectivorous birds, this is one of the tools that can regulate the number of insect pests, one of the biological methods of dealing with them. With the development of the industry, there is a gradual reduction in the area occupied by forests. Perennial plantations are cut down, where hollows in which bats are settled - dendrophiles. The massive use of pesticides in forestry and agriculture leads to a decrease in the food supply, and often the bats themselves die along with the insects that bats feed on.

Rare bats of the Lipetsk region.

Natterer's night.

Spreading. There is no current information on distribution in the region. It was first discovered on the territory of the Central Chernozem region in the Voronezh Reserve in 1947.

Ecology and biology. Lives in forests. Settles in hollows of deciduous trees with slit-like holes located at a small height. Does not form large colonies. Flight view. Biology has not been studied.

limiting factors. Cutting down hollow trees, application of insecticides.

Protected in the Voronezh Reserve.

Mustachioed night.

Family: Common bats.

Spreading. Unevenly distributed throughout the region. It was noted in the Voronezh Reserve in 1938 as a common species. It is also found there at the present time. There is no current information on distribution in the region as a whole. In 1996, one specimen was caught in the city of Lipetsk in the book depository of the pedagogical institute, two more were found in the same year in the attic of a wooden house in the Galichya Gora nature reserve.

Number. Small, sometimes rare species. There are no specific data.

Ecology and biology. Not associated with a specific type of habitat. Does not avoid settlements. Settles in attics, in woodpiles, in hollows of trees, in crevices of rocks, in caves and cellars. Females form small colonies. Males live alone. Feeds all night. Migratory and sedentary.

Bat of Nathisius.

Family: Common bats.

Status - a rare species, having a low abundance in the region and occurring in a limited area.

Spreading. Unevenly distributed throughout the region. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was noted in the Yelets district of the Oryol province and in the Voronezh reserve as a common species. Occurs in mixed forests along the Voronezh river valley. Numerous in the Voronezh Reserve.

Number. Small, sometimes rare species. Specific data are available only for the Voronezh Reserve.

Ecology and biology. Inhabits moist mixed forests dominated by aspen and oak. Does not avoid settlements. Settles in attics, in woodpiles, in hollows of trees, in crevices of rocks, in caves and cellars. Females form small colonies. Males live alone. It feeds all night and is most active in the evening and early morning hours. Migratory and sedentary.

limiting factors. Habitat destruction, insecticide application, direct extermination.

Required security measures. Study of distribution in the area. Conservation of habitats, explanatory work with the population.

Security measures taken. Included in the list of protected animals of the Lipetsk region.

Small party.

Family: Common bats.

Status - a species that has a low abundance in the area, for which there is currently no sufficient information.

Spreading. There is no current information on distribution in the region. Occurs rarely. In 1868, on the territory of the Yelets district of the Oryol province, as a very rare species. In 1910, they pointed to its commonness. In the Voronezh Reserve, it is noted as an ordinary, but not often found, bat. In other districts of the region, the last meeting dates back to 1974, when a female with two cubs was found in the Gryazinsky district of the ball.

Number. There are no data on abundance, but apparently, as for other species, bats of the region, there is a tendency for its decrease.

Ecology and biology. Lives in deciduous forests. Settles in hollows of trees with slit-like holes. Forms both monospecific and polyspecific colonies up to a dozen or more individuals. Migratory species biology has not been studied enough.

limiting factors. Cutting of hollow trees, application of insecticides, direct extermination.

Security measures taken. Included in the list of protected animals of the Lipetsk region.

Giant party.

Family: Common bats.

Status - a species that has a low abundance in the area, for which there is currently no sufficient information.

Spreading. There is no current information on distribution in the region. It is extremely rare. It is noted on the territory of the Voronezh Reserve.

Number. There are no population data.

Ecology and biology. Lives in deciduous forests. It is more common in colonies of the red noctule, rarely forms its own settlements in hollows of trees up to several dozen individuals. Flight view. Biology is little studied due to the secretive way of life and small numbers.

limiting factors. Unknown, but apparently associated with the economic development of forest biotopes, a decrease in the number of large nocturnal insects.

Required security measures. Habitat conservation. Explanatory work with the population. The study of biology.

Security measures taken. Included in the Red Book of the RSFSR, in the list of protected animals of the Lipetsk region.

Northern leather jacket.

Family: Common bats.

Status - a species that has a low abundance in the area, for which there is currently no sufficient information.

Spreading. There is no current information on distribution in the region.

Number. There are no population data.

Ecology and biology. Lives in forests. Settles in the attics of houses, in the cracks of rocks. Flight view. Biology has not been studied.

limiting factors. Habitat destruction, use of insecticides.

Required security measures. Study of distribution in the area. Habitat conservation.

Security measures taken. Included in the list of protected animals of the Lipetsk region.

Which, in addition to coniferous seeds, eat a lot of seeds of cereals and legumes, mice, which, unlike voles, eat relatively little grass. Seed-eaters are relatively limited in their food supply, and their success often depends on the yield of seeds from a few plant species. Crop failures of such fodder entail mass migrations of animals or their death. So, for example, our squirrel in the years of conifer crop failure ...

To life in different environments and to different forms of behavior. All this, undoubtedly, expanded the possibility of their adaptive divergence, which led to an amazing variety of animal forms. The reproduction of mammals, which is characterized by great diversity, nevertheless has common features: internal fertilization, live birth (with rare and incomplete exceptions), feeding newborns with milk, and also ...

Order Chiroptera

This order includes bats and fruit bats. The only group of mammals capable of sustained active flight. The forelimbs are turned into wings. They are formed by a thin elastic leathery flying membrane, which is stretched between the elongated fingers of the forelimbs (except for the short first finger), shoulder, forearm, sides of the body, hind limbs and tail. The bones of the skeleton are thin and light, the cavities of some of them are filled with air. There is a keel on the sternum, to which, like in birds, strongly developed pectoral muscles are attached.

Bats have a very well developed sense of touch and hearing, worse vision and a weak sense of smell. Bats have echolocation - the ability to perceive with their hearing organs the reflection (echo) of the ultrasounds emitted by them during the flight. This allows them to feel small moving prey on the fly in the dark.

Bats are nocturnal animals; in daytime shelters (hollow, cave, attic, etc.) they hang wrapped in wing membranes. They feed on insects that they catch in the air on the fly. Most bats winter in our country, hibernate, some fly to warmer climes.

They usually breed once a year and bring 1-2 cubs, which immediately after birth are firmly attached to the mother's nipples. In the first days, the female flies out to hunt along with the cubs. The ability to fly and independence, the young acquire at the age of about 1.5 months.

On the territory of our country, such types of bats as the red evening bat and ushan are widespread.

redhead party

redhead party- a large bat, body length 6–6.5 cm, tail - 4.5–5.5 cm. It is characterized by long narrow wings, a brown back and a lighter abdomen.

The red vespers lives in the hollows of old deciduous trees, singly or in small groups. She, like all bats, is active at dusk and at night, flies over the edges, forest glades in search of food - mostly nocturnal insects, which she detects with the help of echolocation.

In autumn, with the onset of cold weather, the evening climb into secluded places, hollows, attics, hibernate, hibernate.

ushan lives in forests, deserts, mountains. It is somewhat smaller than the red evening, body length is 5–6 cm. It has large ears equal to the length of the body, but short wings. The color of the fur is variable, the upper body is from pale yellowish to dark brown, the bottom is light.

It feeds on insects, it not only catches them, but also collects them from the branches. For the winter, it climbs into insulated rooms (cellars, cellars, dungeons, etc.), caves and hibernates. Benefits by destroying insect pests.