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Depending on the species, bats can be gray, brown, white or reddish brown.

Bats have teeth and chew their food. Seventy percent of all bats eat insects. One bat can eat more than a thousand insects in one hour!

The largest bats have a wingspan of more than six feet. However, most are smaller.

Many people do not like bats and are afraid of them because they think all bats have rabies. Rabies is a virus that is transmitted to animals and people through animal bites. A study by the University of Florida has shown less than one-half of 1 percent of all bats have rabies. It is more likely for a person to be bitten by an unvaccinated dog or cat.

People also think vampire bats will try to attack humans. That is simply not true.

Bats are not a danger to people and are actually quite valuable. Very few carry rabies, and they help to control the insect population. They also help seed new plants and pollinate our crops!

The orientation of the hindlimb is also unique to bats. The hip joint is rotated 90° so that the legs project sideways and the knee faces almost backwards. Due in part to the rotation of the hindlimb, the walking motion of bats differs from other tetrapods, often appearing awkward. The hindlimb is designed to support the patagium in flight and allow the bat to roost hanging from its hindlimbs. Most bats have a tendon system in the toes that locks the claws in place so the bat can hang upside down even when asleep.

The body of a bat is ventrally compressed with a short neck region. The bones tend to be slender and light-weight. The majority of the body weight is concentrated in the chest region due to the large flight muscles.

The overall shape of the head varies more in bats than within most other groups of mammals. Some bats have very elongated muzzles while others have broad, short faces. There is a correlation between the shape of the head and the type of food eaten. For example, most nectar feeders have long, narrow muzzles that are good for reaching into flowers, while many fruit eaters have short, broad faces good for biting rounded fruits (Hill and Smith, 1984).

The ears range from small and round to large and pointed, and often have a cartilaginous fold (tragus) present at the notch of the ear. There is additional variation in the nasal and lip regions of bats. Some bats have complex noseleafs, folds, or wrinkles on their muzzles.

A major misconception about bats is that they are blind. This idea originated from the fact that bats are able to successfully maneuver in the dark and often have small eyes. While some bats do have very small eyes (most Microchiroptera) many have large and complex eyes (Megachiroptera).

Bats usually have black or brown fur, although the fur can also be gray, white, red, or orange. In some species there are stripes on the face or down the back, or patches of white on the face or above the shoulder. The length of the fur also varies among species from short and dense to long and fluffy. The wing membrane is usually dark in color, although it may have white on the tips or be a lighter color around the bones in the membrane. A few bats have white or pale yellow wings. There are also little hairs on the membrane itself. These hairs can be the color of the wing or the same color as the body.

The bat monophyly hypothesis states the Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera are each others closest relatives in an evolutionary sense (i.e., they form a clade).

symbol of peace in China

Female pandas are called sows

males are called boars

young are called cubs

Most bears' eyes have round pupils

giant panda, whose pupils are vertical slits

Pandas have very good eyesight

largest pandas grow to be about 250 pounds

5.25 to 6 feet (1.6 to 1.8 m) long

weighs about 220 pounds

40 pounds (18 kg) of food each day

Bamboo is very low in nutrition

cannot digest it very well

12 hours every day

throat and stomach have extra-tough linings to protect them from the tough food

captivity (zoos and breeding centers), pandas eat bamboo, rice cereal, carrots, apples, and sweet potatoes

usually eat while sitting in an upright positio

strong teeth and jaws are very important to a panda's survival

Giant pandas have large molars (flat teeth used for crushing food)

few sharp teeth which they use to bite tough bamboo stalks

Pandas have 42 teeth

very thick, oily, woolly fur

two types of hairs

long, thick, coarse hairs

fur is waterproof

shorter, fine, dense underfur

endangered species

roughly 1,000-1,500 pandas living in the wild (in China)

120 living in zoos and breeding centers around the world

extremely vulnerable to extinction because of humans

mostly shy, solitary animals

mostly silent, but they can bleat!

11 different calls, four of which are only used during mating

live longer in captivity than in the wild

Unlike many other bears, pandas cannot walk on their hind legs

do not hibernate since their food is available all year long

During the cold winter months, giant pandas go to lower altitudes where it is a bit warmer

don't seem to have permanent dens

very slow reproductive rate

mate in the spring

give birth between 95 and 160 days after mating