Starting a new year is a time to reflect on the past and make goals for the future. And if you are like about 50 percent of Americans, one of your New Year’s Resolutions might be related to fitness. Maybe you want to hit the gym regularly this year or maybe start up a running program. If so, you may be able to take inspiration from an unlikely source – bats! While bats are best known as the only mammals capable of flight, at least a couple have adapted to a life on the ground: the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus and the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata.

With hands and forearms that have been highly modified through evolution into wings, and knees that face backwards (compared to humans), how exactly is it that bats can run anyway? Let’s start by examining the kinematic definition of “running.” If an animal’s gait has an aerial phase, where all four limbs are off the ground, then it meets one of the criteria to be considered a “run.” The second criteria has to do with how much time a limb spends in the air over the course of a stride (or duty cycle) – if in the air for more than 50 percent of this cycle, then it is kinematically a run.

While bats are best known as the only mammals capable of flight, at least a couple have adapted to a life on the ground.

To measure the kinematics of bats moving on the ground, scientists trained bats to walk on a special treadmill, recording their movements with video. At low speeds, the vampire bats moved with a “cat-like” prowl, using a lateral sequence gait. This gait is common in quadruped animals; when the left front limb moves forward, the back right limb does the same. While the short-tailed bats did not take to the treadmill as readily as the vampire bats, they also used the same lateral sequence walk. However, as the speed on the treadmill increased, the vampire bats shifted their gait from a prowl to a bouncing gallop. Since this bounding gait has a significant aerial phase where all four limbs leave the ground, it meets at least one of the definitions of a run. However, unlike the bounding gait of other mammals like squirrels and rabbits, vampire bats use a front-wheel drive – they initiate their leaps using their front limbs instead of the back legs.

With hands and forearms that have been highly modified through evolution into wings, and knees that face backwards, how exactly is it that bats can run anyway?

Why would bats be adapted to move efficiently on the ground? The New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat evolved on islands without native land predators like cats or snakes. While they didn’t become flightless like some famous island birds, such as the dodo or kea parrot, these bats have adapted to take advantage of ground-based resources. In addition to catching insects in the air, as most insect-eating bats do, short-tailed bats spend up to 30 percent of their time scurrying along the forest floor in search of buried insects, fruits, and nectar. With no major predators around, they’ve never needed to run fast or make quick escapes.

Unlike the bounding gait of other mammals like squirrels and rabbits, vampire bats use a “front-wheel drive.”

In contrast, common vampire bats use their cat-like prowl to approach their sleeping prey, which includes large livestock like pigs, cows and horses. When feeding under animals that are up to 16,000 times their size, a quick burst of speed can be crucial for dodging a dangerous stomp. Interestingly, the ability to gallop may be unique to common vampire bats. When placed on a treadmill, the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngiialso moved in a lateral sequence gait, but did not transition to a run at higher speeds. White-winged vampire bats, along with the yet-to-be-tested hairy-legged vampire bats (Diphylla ecaudata, primarily feed on birds, so they likely don’t require the same speed to avoid being crushed during a meal.

If you’re planning out your running goals this year, you might be thinking about how to stay in your “fat-burning” zone or perfecting your carb-loading strategy for that big race. After all, humans, like most mammals, rely on metabolizing carbs and fats to fuel endurance activities. However, recent research on vampire bats and their treadmills uncovered an unusual way for mammals to power their workouts. Scientists monitored vampire bat metabolism for up to 90 minutes as the bats walked on the treadmill and found that at much as 60 percent of the bats’ energy came from amino acids, the building blocks of protein, not carbs or fat. This discovery makes sense considering their protein-rich but nutrient-limited diet and highlights just some of the incredible adaptations vampire bats have to support their blood-feeding lifestyle.

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The post Bats that Run appeared first on Bat Conservation International.

While the South Pacific nation ofFiji is made up of more than 300 islands, only two of those islands are home to the Endangered Fijian free-tailed bat (Mops bregullae. And just one maternity roost for the species is known to exist, located in locally legendary Nakanacagi Cave on Vanua Levu, Fiji’s second largest island.

Scientists estimate only a few thousand Endangered Fijian free-tailed bats remain, and this cave is vital for the species’ survival. Nakanacagi Cave is located just outside Nakanacagi Village, and it provides critical habitat for many native and endemic species, serves as a primary water source for bats, and is surrounded by land that still holds pockets of Fiji’s rare tropical dry forest. The cave also holds cultural significance for nearby residents, who refer to it in folk stories and celebrate a historical connection to several archeological sites surrounding it.

BCI and partners, including National Trust of FijiNature Fiji MareqetiVitiRainforest Trust, Nakanacagi Village, and the University of the South Pacific, have been working to protect this cave from habitat degradation and destruction, as well as cave disturbances. BCI has conducted extensive conservation work in the area, including tracking bat movement around the islands and conducting a LiDAR (light detection and range mapping) scan of the cave to learn more about it.

In 2019, BCI and partners secured the purchase of the cave and surrounding land for the National Trust of Fiji, creating Fiji’s first Bat Sanctuary. Then, in 2023, BCI helped facilitate a workshop for partners in Fiji, with the goal of creating an informed management plan to protect the cave and bats. The completed plan describes policies and actions that will help the species survive long-term.

Last summer, a team from BCI traveled to Fiji to meet with stakeholders and present the completed Nakanacagi Bat Sanctuary management plan to both local and national government officials. With this crucial step, the management plan has become part of the government record, supporting permanent protection for the bats.

A celebration hosted by the Nakanacagi Village marked the occasion with music, poetry, and dance created by community members in honor of the management plan and the sustainable future it ensures for the cave, the bats, and Nakanacagi Village. A university student from the village, Selai Saladakai Qarau, wrote of the celebration, “A whole Itaukei traditional ceremony was performed throughout the programme with the presence of the Chief (Turaga na Vunivalu, Na Tui Dreketi),” noting that “villagers and staff and students of a nearby school” attended the ceremony to witness the passing of the management plan.

In addition to the site’s conservation value and cultural significance, factors like the potential for ecotourism and native species reintroduction are components included in the finalized plan to protect Nakanacagi Cave. As the area bounces back from cyclones, the resiliency of the land and people working to protect this invaluable resource continues to drive the evolution of BCI overall.

Nakanacagi Cave holds cultural significance for nearby residents, who refer to it in folk stories and celebrate a historical connection to several archeological sites located around the cave.

Learn more about BCI’s Endangered Species campaign and stay tuned for exclusive and visually stunning films about Fiji, Jamaica, and Kenya later this year

Read more about protecting Endangered Bats in Fiji in Bats Magazine.

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The post Beyond Folklore: The Endangered Fijian Free-tailed Bat appeared first on Bat Conservation International.

In his second year of undergraduate studies at Jagannath University in Bangladesh, Md Ashraf Ul Hasan first ventured into the field to study wildlife. Mesmerized by the butterflies he encountered, Ashraf knew he wanted an even more immersive experience, so he began conducting butterfly inventories and studying the insects’ diversity, richness, and diet. This sparked the desire to further study wildlife, including his first bat: the naked-rumped pouched bat (Saccolaimus saccolaimus), which he observed roosting and mating.

Ashraf went on to earn his master’s degree in wildlife and biodiversity conservation while focusing on the feeding ecology of Bangladesh’s capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus). He also studied a variety of other species, from urban conflicts between humans and rhesus monkeys, to working with the U.S. Agency for International Development to monitor the status of Bengal tigers.

Since 2019, Ashraf has worked with Dr. Tigga Kingston at Texas Tech University studying the bats of his home country-Bangladesh. He feels bats aren’t studied enough, and often maligned, so he wants to fill knowledge gaps and dispel myths while earning his PhD. He began this work shortly before the pandemic and couldn’t travel abroad at first, so he studied museum specimens, photographs, and observations to learn about the bats of Bangladesh. He has cataloged a total of 31 species, though he says others are also likely to occur in the country.

In 2021, Ashraf became a Bat Conservation International (BCI) Student Scholar and also received BCI’s first Promoting Diversity in Conservation Award. He’s using the funding for his project, “Bats of Bangladesh: Bat Assemblage Structure and Species Responses to Land-Use Change.” 

This summer Ashraf is traveling to Bangladesh again, this time to study habitat selection of the greater false vampire bat (Lyroderma lyra) in the mosaic landscape that includes patches of natural forests, agriculture, human settlements, and monoculture plantations. The knowledge he gains will help inform strategies to protect false vampire bats as a keystone species and other species and help them thrive in these various habitats.

While he’s in Bangladesh, Ashraf will continue the work he began in 2022 creating awareness about conservation, with a particular focus on teens and kids. He has worked with GBatNet (Global Union of Bat Diversity Networks) to help develop frameworks for science communication for different ages. Teaching young people about basic bat biology and dispelling misconceptions about bats is helping create a future generation that will also be mesmerized by wildlife and work to protect species. The importance of individuals like Ashraf working in different communities can’t be overstated in the survival of bats worldwide.

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The post One Man Makes an Impact in Bangladesh appeared first on Bat Conservation International.