It's Freaking Bats!

Did you know that 1/4 of all mammals are bats? Bats are one of the most abundant of all mammals, and yet they can only live in warmer regions due to their living wings. Today we're going to fly through every family of bats to get a look at the 1,400 species of these amazing winged mammals.

#clintsreptiles #bats #flyingfox

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Clint is a professional biologist and educator, but above all, Clint LOVES reptiles and he loves to share that love with everyone he meets. Whether you're lover or a hater of reptiles, you can't help but get excited with Clint!
We post a new video every Saturday morning! So stay tuned!

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You guys are so RAD!

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Fan mail? Yes Please!
Clint's Reptiles
770 East Main Street # 127
Lehi, UT 84043

[jerricajamison]

What an absolutely phenomenal episode! As someone who is currently working on a PhD project involving bat phylogenetics, I can confirm that the general consensus among bat researchers is that the phylogeny is complete and total mess. The adaptive radiation when bats evolved was so rapid and explosive that even with complete genomes we can barely figure out the relationships! Thank you so much for bringing such a lovely spotlight to these wonderful, ecologically pivotal, and frequently misunderstood little mammals.

[kes]

Clint! I was one of your students! I've always remembered the tadpole and Play-doh lesson and the snakes in class :) You were always so exciting and inspiring and challenged me to view the world differently. Thank you for all you do!

[zacharylane]

I have never spent so much time looking at bats. I always kind of thought that they just looked like foxes or mice, but the longer I watched this episode the more I realized that bats are their own freaky-cool sort of animal. I feel enlightened.

[theprehistorichubert]

I Don not get how somone could hate bats, they're so cute, and beneficial to humans in so many ways, and they're basically tiny mammalian wyverns in terms of looks which makes them even cooler

[tabbitee]

Fun and adorable fac: New Zealand's long-tailed bat was voted 'Bird of the Year' in 2021. It works, because in Maori, both bats and birds are classed as 'winged creatures' (as well as any other creature with wings, like cicadas and butterflies), which I find intensely endearing.
Look forward to seeing you back on the Isles one day, Clint!

[MayaPosch]

Skypuppies are just so adorable :)

Teacher of mine during primary school was totally into bats, and he'd take his students on night-time trips to try and catch bats in the act. We probably made as much noise as a rhinoceros stumbling about because we never saw any, but his enthusiasm for bats definitely rubbed off on some of us.

Bats are also highly interesting because of the modifications to their immune system relative to other mammals. This is a likely adaptation because of the inflammation caused by the stress of flying, not unlike that of the cellular damage seen by whales and their adaptations. Bats in general also tend to be rather long-lived, which I guess could make them into really good pets.

If you're into that kind of thing, of course :)

[darklyngstudios]

I once rehabilitated a poor bat that I found . It had gotten locked in an empty commercial building and was starving and dehydrated. A couple days of crickets from the pet store and water from a squeeze dropper and he was on his way home fit as a fiddle.it was such a cool experience.

[IAMAREALOSPREY]

All of your content is great but I felt this "episode" was particularly great. Very informative and the humor as always makes the information far more palatable.

[veledwin]

It's funny cuz bats are living proof to me that a creature can be weird, cute, and terrifying all at the same time.... Well, I'd use the words "slightly scary" or "spooky" personally, but it's the same vibe I think 🤔

[Stratigic_Cheese_Reserve]

In my home city of Adelaide, Australia there's a large colony of Grey headed flying foxes. It's right in the parklands that rings the Downtown area. Right before dusk these huge 3ft wide leave the roost in a column kilometres long. It's an astonishing flight. You can stand on the road only 30 meters from their roosting trees and they fly low overhead.

[dororexgaming]

Microbats are so unique, I wish more zoos worked with them(some could definitely use some captive breeding)

[Voxen]

the spectral bat stood out to me immediately, like a canine and dragon cross! what a cool animal.

[darcieclements]

Awe, you didn't talk about how bat wings generate lift. I'm bias because I built animated 3d reconstructions as a college project, but like, the way bats fly is so different from what people expect. Sorry like most of my work, I never got around to publishing, I am terrible about that and am technically just a hobby biologist with degrees so it's not like I make my living off of research. However, the flight info has been published by others, just without the animations so you shouldn't have any trouble reading about them. There are several styles bats use, but the vampire bats have some of the coolest features all in one.

[sevenlines]

Thank you for continuing to create the best zoological content on youtube. I love how you are able to convey relatively complex biological concepts to the layman while simultaneously being so laid back and entertaining. This is what modern education is missing and I am so happy for the next generation of future zoologists who these videos will inevitably inspire. I love this series! Happy Halloween!

[BlackRainbow]

Bats have a long time been my favorite animal. I've rescued a few too, got them back to health, and set them loose in the world.

There's so much to learn about them just from looking at them. Popular media will paint them as vicious, but I have found them to be relatively docile and intelligent.

[FoxxyFire-HellFrost]

When I was little, my mom read the book Stella Luna with me and that was where I fell in love with bats. I had, for the longest time, never seen any in the wild. But in 2019, my family went to Australia for vacation and started in Cairns. The streets downtown were lined with huge trees filled with Flying Foxes! They would move around on the branchea and squeak at each other and I was so excited. We had spent the day exploring downtown and ended up at the pier. Then, as the sun went down, you could see a black mass, almost like a cloud rise from town as all of the bats took to the sky in search for food. It was so dark I couldn't get any good shots or video, but it was incredible to watch!

[felixhenson]

"It's always Halloween in my soul"
This kid is one of us.

[Pippis]

"Warm enough for bats" doesn't seem to be very limiting. Half of my country sits above the arctic circle and we still have half a dozen different bat species. We have a long ass and cold winter, so they hibernate a large chunk of the year. Plenty of bugs in the summer though.
One is actually THE most northern living bat species of the world! Eptesicus Nilssonii.

[Sam-nxch]

This was truly amazing. I love looking at evolutionary trees. I also had to rewind for a full minute because I couldn't get "sky-noceroses" out of my head after you said it.

[jennfogs]

I love all your colorful mouth & nose descriptions! You never fail to enlighten & amuse. Thank you!