Contrary to what researchers had assumed, Egyptian fruit bats don’t rely solely on sight to orient themselves as they drink and forage for food in daylight.
According to a preprint, the common vampire bat lacks 13 genes present in other bat species, which may help explain their blood-only diet and other curious aspects of their lifestyle.
A study proposes that habitat for bats—and their accompanying coronaviruses—has increased in southern Asia over the last century, but experts debate the reliability of the analysis.
Researchers demonstrate that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is more stable and binds the human ACE2 receptor with much higher affinity than the spike protein of its closest known relative, bat coronavirus RaTG13.
EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak speaks with The Scientist about how pathogens like 2019-nCoV jump species, and how to head off the next pandemic.
Bats move their ears fast to create frequency shifts in echoes that can give them more information about their prey targets or the surroundings they are navigating through.
The finding overturns the idea that the insect’s first victims were bats and reveals that certain species started targeting humans as a side snack, not as a main meal.
Costly virus hunts are ineffective in protecting public health and have unfairly harmed the historically excellent safety record of bats as beneficial neighbors.
