10 CUTEST BAT SPECIES FOUND IN THE WILD

Bats are misunderstood creatures. The reputation they've earned through scary stories and myths doesn't match their cute, furry appearance, or the important role these prodigious bug-catchers play in ecosystems worldwide. With more than 1,400 identified species, bats are the second most diverse order of mammal, outnumbered only by rodents. Bats are traditionally divided into two broad categories, megabats and microbats, though these classifications have more to do with their behavior than their size. Microbats use echolocation to hunt live prey, while megabats generally do not echolocate and feed on fruit. Scientists have discovered species that defy this classification system, though, and it's no longer regarded as entirely accurate. In any case, bats species are wildly diverse, ranging from flying foxes with five-foot wingspans to tiny species that fit in the palm of your hand.

1 . Egyptian Fruit Bat

The Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) is a large species found throughout Africa, the Middle East, and India. It's considered a megabat, a family of 197 large fruit-eating bats. With a two-foot wingspan, it's an average size megabat species. It's a highly social animal, and usually roosts in caves by the thousand. It's generally the microbats that are known as skillful sonar hunters, but the Egyptian fruit bat is the rare megabat that does use a rudimentary form of echolocation.

2 . California Leaf-Nosed Bat

The California leaf-nosed bat (Macrotus californicus) earns its name because of the fleshy bump, called a noseleaf, that grows above its snout. It has a wingspan of about one foot, and large ears that are greater in size than its head.

It has short, broad wings that are best-suited to acrobatics and slow speeds, rather than long-distance travel, and it does not migrate. It prefers to forage for ground-dwelling insects like crickets and beetles, which it snatches thanks to its excellent eyesight.

3 . Honduran White Bat

The Honduran white bat (Ectophylla alba) is a highly specialized species found in Central America, and one of only six bat species with white fur. It roosts in groups of up to 15 bats in broad leaves, which it cuts with its teeth to modify into a tent shape. Its diet is special as well — it's a fruit eater that subsists mainly on a single type of fig. Due to its unique housing and dietary needs, it is especially vulnerable to deforestation, and is listed as a near-threatened species.

4 . Indian Flying Fox

The Indian flying fox (Pteropus medius) is one of the largest bat species, weighing up to three and a half pounds and boasting a wingspan of nearly five feet. It's found throughout the Indian subcontinent and roosts in large groups in tree canopies. It's not a picky eater, foraging for many types of fruits, as well as leaves and insects. In some regions, flying foxes are seen as pests, especially near fruit orchards where they can damage crops. However, studies largely show that their role as pollinators outweighs the economic harm they cause.

5 . Big Brown Bat

The big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) is a common species found widely throughout North and Central America. It's a fairly large species of microbat, the family of bats that make up 70 percent of all bat species. It exhibits nearly all the behaviors bats are best known for — roosting upside down in caves and tunnels and snatching flying insects at night using echolocation. It eats a wide variety of beetles and insects, and farmers will sometimes set up bat boxes to attract them as a form of pest control.

6 . Peter's Dwarf Epauletted Fruit Bat

Peters's dwarf epauletted fruit bat (Micropteropus pusillus) is something of an oxymoron — it's classified as a megabat despite its small stature. While megabats do trend larger than microbats, the main difference between the two groups is that microbats echolocate while megabats usually do not. This dwarf species is native to Africa, where it resides in tropical forests and woodlands. Thanks to its diet of fruit and nectar, it's an important pollinator of tropical plants.

7 . Brown Long-Eared Bat

The brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) is a species native to Europe and Asia with, yes, distinctive ears that are nearly as long as the rest of its body. It prefers higher altitudes, and is commonly found roosting in hollow trees in parks and forests. Despite the enormous ears, studies have found that long-eared bats tend to hunt insects by sight rather than echolocation.

8 . Striped Yellow-Eared Bat

The striped yellow-eared bat (Vampyriscus nymphaea) is a species of leaf-nosed bat with a unique color adaptation — white stripes across its forehead and jaw. It's found in Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Ecuador. While its nose seems singular as well, the leaf-nosed bat family is actually large and diverse, with at least 160 member species. They share the distinctive nose shape and feed on everything from insects, to fruit, to blood. They can be found across the Americas in tropical rainforests, woodlands, and deserts.

9 . Greater Horseshoe Bat

The greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) is a species of bat with a distinctive U-shaped nose. It's not for cosmetic reasons; the unique shape helps to direct the ultrasound waves it produces to navigate using echolocation. It has a wide range that stretches from Europe and North Africa across Asia to Japan. It's not an endangered species, but it is protected in the United Kingdom due to locally declining numbers.

10 . Desert Long-Eared Bat

The desert long-eared bat makes short work of scorpions, even the venomous variety.
Found in arid environments from Morocco to the Middle East, the desert long-eared bat (Otonycteris hemprichii) is at home in inhospitable regions. It has an unusual appetite among bats, feeding on large prey, including the highly venomous Palestine yellow scorpion. Researchers have observed its hunting tactics, and report that it can take a toxic scorpion sting to the face and continue its meal undeterred, eventually consuming the entire scorpion, including its barb and vemon sacs.