Talk:Bat/Archive 2

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Archive 1Archive 2Archive 3

Collective noun for bats

What is it? I think it should be added — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ashpotter (talkcontribs) 17:27, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

It doesn't really seem to warrant mentioning and was easily found with a google search. -- Fyrefly (talk) 18:20, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Chiroptera etymology

Giving the etymology when the grecolatin term is first mentioned is standard. See, for example, carnivora and perissodactyla. Please do not move this relevant information to an inelegant box following no standard formatting. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Medeis (talkcontribs) 01:15, 14 October 2011 (UTC)

Vertebrates?

The section http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat#Vertebrates talks about bats not being vertebrates. Aren't all mammals vertebrates by definition? Dennis Brown (talk) 17:37, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

It was supposed to say that they're not considered carnivores; of course they are vertebrates. I changed it. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 > haneʼ 18:36, 6 December 2011 (UTC)
Thanks, I wasn't quite ready to get bold with it. Ran across the error while working on List of nocturnal animals Dennis Brown (talk) 18:40, 6 December 2011 (UTC)
Actually it's supposed to say that most bats don't eat vertebrates. The title of each subsection in the 'Feeding and diet' section refers to a type of diet, so in this case the diet is other vertebrates. I'm going to change the wording about carnivores, as this is incorrect since many bats are insectivores. -- Fyrefly (talk) 18:43, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Bats eat vertebrates, like frogs, fish and small mammals.

Wrong sonogram or wrong description

The sonogram (and sound file attached) DOES NOT show approach and terminal phase of echolocation calls (i.e. structure of echolocation calls at the moment when bat approaches and captures its prey)! Only the first call is, in fact, echolocation signal, the remaining sounds - these four calls arranged into a trill - are element of the SOCIAL CALL, in this case advertisement call used by territorial pipistrelle male to attract females (function similar to bird song). Could anybody, more proficient in English (and being bat specialist) fix this problem?83.25.154.223 (talk) 16:33, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

O.K., I fixed it by myself83.25.161.223 (talk) 23:55, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

Should this be a new Section? possibly a New article?

How exactly did bats evolve? from small gliding rodent like mammals? has no evidence been found?--50.195.51.9 (talk) 16:51, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

The section for this is called 'Classification and evolution'. It's the very first section of the article. -- Fyrefly (talk) 17:43, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article on order Laurasiatheria states that DNA analysis puts bats in the same group with hippos and dolphins, would this fill the "citation needed" qualification? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.88.5.252 (talk) 11:14, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

Actually no, other Wikipedia articles are not acceptable as sources. However, if that article gives a source for the information (which it should), then we could use the same source in this article. I actually don't see the "citation needed" tag that you're referring to though. -- Fyrefly (talk) 16:48, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

REQ: Punc Fix

Could somebody please fix the punctuation in the following:

However, they are not directly related to rodents, and much less to birds, and do not in fact have any closely related orders (their uniqueness can be demonstrated by the fact that their closest living genetic relatives are thought to be carnivorans, certain hoofed animals, such as alpacas and hippopotamuses, and sea mammals, such as dolphins.)

The period should be outside the closing parenthesis in this case:

However, they are not directly related to rodents, and much less to birds, and do not in fact have any closely related orders (their uniqueness can be demonstrated by the fact that their closest living genetic relatives are thought to be carnivorans, certain hoofed animals, such as alpacas and hippopotamuses, and sea mammals, such as dolphins).

Alternatively (and perhaps arguably better), the phrase inside the parentheses should really be a separate sentence:

However, they are not directly related to rodents, and much less to birds, and do not in fact have any closely related orders. Their uniqueness can be demonstrated by the fact that their closest living genetic relatives are thought to be carnivorans, certain hoofed animals, such as alpacas and hippopotamuses, and sea mammals, such as dolphins.

-- 108.68.83.82

As far as I can tell, this article is not protected in any way, so you can feel free to make any constructive changes that you want. -- Fyrefly (talk) 16:50, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

Parasite

The article says: "...the vampire bats being the only parasitic mammalian species." Is this true? I thought they feed off various species while a parasite depends on one host. Borock (talk) 06:23, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

I corrected it, after reading the various articles. Borock (talk) 16:57, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Airborne rabies

To my recollection, the only cases where it was suspected that rabies was contracted via an aerosolized virus was after the victims were in bat caves, where they may have been bitten. I feel that this should be pointed out, as the current format suggests that one could potentially contract rabies simply by being in the same area as a bat, which is unlikely to be true in open-air situations. God knows the little guys don't need any extra bad press! Does anyone have more concrete/recent info on the matter? Arkhetypon (talk) 03:56, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

Flight

I think there should be more information on bat flight and how it compares and contrasts with bird flight. --72.196.105.71 (talk) 05:33, 13 July 2013 (UTC)

Tomb bat

The bat article at present makes no reference to tomb bats, yet there exist several - including 9 on Wikipedia:

So, I propose at least one of:

  • a new article tomb bat (wp:dab page possibly)
  • a new article list of tomb bats
  • a new section somewhere in bat, linking to the above 9.

Does anybody agree (or fancy doing it even?) or have alternative thoughts? Cheers, Trafford09 (talk) 13:23, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

HOLD FIRE - I've found something already ... back soon ... Trafford09 (talk) 13:27, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

OK, forget all the above. It transpires that tomb bats are listed under the Taphozous article. Hence, I've now created a page tomb bat which redirects to there, and will prevent other users making my mistake. Trafford09 (talk) 13:33, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Videos

Hi again. Please don't add items that you were personally involved with creating. It is considered bad form. Dawnseeker2000 05:14, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Looking for someone to nominate this article for GA status

Does anyone else think this article is up to GA status?--Bigpoliticsfan (talk) 00:52, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

It looks close. However, Classification and evolution needs to be reorganized and split into a few subsections; and there are still several tags. RockMagnetist (talk) 22:16, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Incongruity with the Megabat article

There seems to be an incongruity between this item and the Megabat item. From this item:

"Most molecular biological evidence supports the view that bats form a single or monophyletic group."

However, the Megabat page contains this:

"Bats are usually thought to belong to one of two monophyletic groups, a view that is reflected in their classification into two suborders (Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera)."

I really do not know anything about bats. But it strikes me that these two entries are at odds. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.160.244.8 (talk) 19:50, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

Origin of "bat"?

The article discusses the word for "bat " in other languages but doesn't discuss the origin of the English word "bat" itself. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 23.119.205.88 (talk) 00:49, 21 May 2014 (UTC)

White Nose Syndrome

In this diff, User:‎Shadowkittie5460 added a paragraph of extra information about recent research into White Nose Syndrome. While this looks good, and is cited, I wonder whether this much information belongs in a section in the general Bat article, when we have a separate article on White Nose Syndrome linked at the top of the section.

Thoughts? Skittle (talk) 14:20, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

Microbats and vision

The existing information seems to suggest that microbats don't use vision, but this isn't true. Microbats probably use vision for navigation and some species of microbats have been reported to not use echolocation even during foraging on bright nights. Here are two sources of info:

https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/15889/1/gupea_2077_15889_1.pdf http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0006390 --CSJordan (talk) 13:38, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

Mythology, Aztec.

"A gigantic, life-size, ceramic bat-man was dug up..." What does "gigantic, life-size" mean? Also no citation is given.66.249.82.182 (talk) 15:22, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

I have added a citation and removed the word gigantic. Sarahj2107 (talk) 15:30, 4 December 2014 (UTC)


⦁ 24 bones in the rib cage ⦁ 26 bones in both feet ⦁ 22 bones in your skull ⦁ 33 bones in your spine ⦁ 3 bones in your ear ⦁ 2 bones in your jaw if we didnt have them we would be like jelly but not azacly like jelly ≥dbmv.kfbn vn .b bn b ,v  Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.210.148.55 (talk) 10:56, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Expansion of Anatomy section

Hello,

The anatomy section of the page needs some expansion. There are many bat adaptations and anatomical features, such as the lung adaptations necessary for flight and changes to the vestibular system for balance, that are unique among mammals and should be on the page. Can we open up the page briefly to help expand this section?

Thanks! CCevol2015 (talk) 20:45, 11 November 2015 (UTC)Keaton

Semi-protected edit request on 22 January 2016

Article states that bats are the "second largest order of mammals", which makes no sense. I think someone vandalised the word "largest" when it's actually "smallest". Castochi (talk) 07:57, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

Mammal species pie chart
 Not done - The statement is "Bats are the second largest order of mammals (after the rodents), representing about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide"
This is totally correct. We are not talking about the size of bats, but the number of species of bat in the order Chiroptera.
The chart to the right shows the number of species in each order of mammals - Rodents (light blue) make up about 42% while Chiroptera (bats) are in red and make up 20% -so bats are the second largest order of mammals. - Arjayay (talk) 09:04, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

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Etymology of "Bat"?

The article spend quite a stretch on other languages' words for the bat but gives no explanation of why they are called "bat" in English.--23.119.204.117 (talk) 10:29, 3 December 2015 (UTC)

and the etymonline reference is itself obscure. --Richardson mcphillips (talk) 13:24, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

Bats Infestation

If you have Bats in your house/living area, it is a known home remedy that bats are attracted to dairy ie. Milk, cheese, fromage. Leaving a plate of dairy product outside your house will draw the bats out from there hiding place.  Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:C7D:4EA2:5200:3489:CA82:8306:317E (talk) 09:59, 18 July 2016 (UTC)

Roost Upside Down

Why? Seems there should be a section for that if anyone knows2602:306:CE96:AD70:D902:A224:EAA5:5BEE (talk) 21:54, 21 August 2016 (UTC)BeaMyra

I did a quick search of the literature, and it appears that nobody knows why. Still, it might be worth saying that in the article. RockMagnetist(talk) 15:34, 22 August 2016 (UTC)
It's a difficult behavior to systematically study, and I found no specific analysis of upside-down roosting (UDR), but there are "educated" interpretations/speculations based mainly on anatomy, metabolism and thermoregulation:

As much of this is conjecture without secondary sources, it's difficult to envision a section supported by WP:SECONDARY references for a section on UDR. --Zefr (talk) 16:44, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

White-nose syndrome

Under the "Threats" section, it should be added that white-nose recently made the jump to the west coast. This article looks reliable: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/killer-bat-fungus-jumps-west-coast

Additionally, in the intro I would emphasize bats' role in aiding farmers, perhaps an estimate of how much money is saved by using fewer pesticides?

Mjb2952 (talk) 20:51, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 19 October 2016

Semi-protected edit request on 19 October 2016

Semi-protected edit request on 20 October 2016

Semi-protected edit request on 1 February 2017

Semi-protected edit request on 11 April 2017

is it really from ancient Greek?

Reviewer: Cwmhiraeth (talk · contribs) 11:32, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

I propose to take on this review. It is a long article and it will take me some time to study it in detail. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:32, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

First reading

  • The paragraph starting "The phylogenetic relationships" is partly in the present tense and partly in the past.
Tweaked. Part of it is rightly in the present. Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:51, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Only an estimated 12% of the bat fossil record is complete at the genus level." - What does that mean?
the fossil record's very incomplete   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • "The extinct bats ... are the first fossil mammals to have their colouration discovered, both of a reddish-brown." - This sentence is ungrammatical.
seems alright to me   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
I've tweaked it very slightly, hope this is ok with everyone. Chiswick Chap (talk) 09:14, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "intermediary fossil bat" - do you mean "intermediate"? And intermediate between what?
between non-flying bats and flying-bats, and fixed   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • Why did the discovery of "Onychonycteris finneyi, indicate that flight evolved before echolocative abilities"? The rest of the paragraph does not mention echolocation.
which is discussed in the next paragraph   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • There is quite a lot of overlinking.
Have removed some; it seems more than reasonable to allow it (as per the MoS) to a modest extent in cladograms and where taxa are first discussed even if briefly mentioned earlier. Chiswick Chap (talk) 09:04, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Bats have a slightly lower breaking stress point than birds" - Is this referring to wings?
yes   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • "However, this design not permit many other movements, other than hanging or clambering up trees." - This sentence needs attention.
I removed the first "other"   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
I'm not sure we speak the same language! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 21:05, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
considering it seems fine to me, it’s probably an American thing   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  13:23, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "This skin membrane consists of connective tissue, elastic filaments, nerves, muscles, and blood vessels." - Do you mean "elastic fibres"?
fixed   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • "Nectar and pollen eating bats are able to hover, similarly to hummingbirds. They can produce vortex lift with their sharp leading edges and change their wing shapes and curvatures to create stability in the lift." - This needs to be more clearly expressed.
Better? LittleJerry (talk) 02:19, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • " bats are not at risk of blood flow rusting to their heads when roosting." - We wouldn't want them rusting up, would we?
Fixed. Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:51, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "tiger moths produces ultrasonic signals to warn bats that they are chemically protected or aposematic." - This is a curious statement. One can visualise the moth emitting a sound that the bat associates with toxicity or distastefulness, but not one that it associates with aposematic colouration.
Fixed. The sound itself is the aposematic signal. Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:51, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Microbats have mesopic vision, meaning that they can only detect light in low levels," - I don't think this is correct.
the source says "for bats the cones are most useful in mesopic (rod- and cone-stimulating) light conditions"   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
I think what you mean is that bats are unable to process light at high light levels. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 21:05, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Their eyesight, unlike that of its microbat relatives," - Correction to grammar needed.
someone else fixed it   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • "They prefer to roost near magnetic north, and this may be used in long-distance travel." What does the first half of this sentence mean? The sentence also needs to clarify that it is referring to bats not birds.
fixed   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • "bats have no means to cool themselves by evaporating, though they may use saliva to cool themselves." - I think you mean "evaporation", and you need to explain how saliva cools them.
all the source says about saliva is "their last resort in a thermal emergency is to lick their chests, and use saliva for cooling"   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • "During long migrations, heterothermic bats, to conserve energy, may go into a torpid state while roosting in the daytime, and flying at night." - This sentence is somewhat confusing.
fixed   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • You have a section "Adaptations" but not one "Anatomy"
they're basically the same thing   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  22:25, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
  • Some book references lack page numbers. I noticed 42, 71, 72, 81, 91, 149

More

  • "Around 500 species of flowering plant rely on bat pollination and thus tend to hope their flowers at night." - I should hope so.
Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 02:22, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Bats rarely fly in rain, as the rain interferes with their echolocation" - What about megabats that don't use echolocation?
Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 19:25, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Temperate bat species may swarm at hibernation sites in August and September." What about bats in the southern hemisphere?
Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 19:25, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Predatory bats typically hunt at night, reducing competition with birds, minimizing contact with certain predators, and travel large distances, up to 800 kilometres (500 mi), in search of food." - This sentence structure is too complex.
Split. Chiswick Chap (talk) 17:23, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "The bite force of small bats is generated through mechanical advantage, in that it is side-independent, through the hardened armor of insects or the skin of fruit." - I don't understand this sentence.
Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 19:28, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Most bats, especially in temperate areas, prey on insects." - Does that include megabats?
No. Chiswick Chap (talk) 17:25, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Fruit eating, or frugivory, is found in both major suborders." - So some microbats eat fruit do they?
Yes. LittleJerry (talk) 19:25, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "They prefer to eat fruit when they ripen." How about "The bats prefer to eat fruit when it is ripe."
Done. Chiswick Chap (talk) 17:26, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Vampire bats target sleeping prey and can detect deep breathing" - The rest of the paragraph here is in the singular whereas this sentence is in the plural.
Fixed. Chiswick Chap (talk) 17:28, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "For temperate living bats" - I suggest you read the paragraph that starts like this carefully and correct a number of small errors.
Done. Chiswick Chap (talk) 17:33, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "Bats also communicate" - ditto.
Done. Chiswick Chap (talk) 17:34, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
  • "In certain countries, such as the United Kingdom ..." - This sentence could do with a reference.
Done. Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:51, 3 November 2017 (UTC)
  • With regard to the section on Rabies, it is very US-centric.
Copy-edited. Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:57, 3 November 2017 (UTC)
  • Looking back now at the lead, I see the statement "Bats are less efficient at flying than birds, but are more manoeuvrable," which does not seem to be mentioned in the main body of text.
it says it, just not in those words and not in one sentence   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  13:29, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
  • Wikilink "Pacific Rim", or preferably use a more specific term.
Done. Chiswick Chap (talk) 13:25, 2 November 2017 (UTC)
    • I have reached the end of the article and assessed whether the lead is a good summary of its contents. The later parts of the article were better written than the first half, which could have done with a more careful scrutiny before submitting to GAN. I will check the images and referencing before passing this. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:12, 2 November 2017 (UTC)

Misc comments

  • In the Life expectancy section "Roosting species may have a longer lifespan than non-roosting species because of the decreased predation in caves". I understood a roost to be any place a bat uses for shelter during the day. I think technically all bats roost. Could this be revised for clarity regarding colonially-roosting or cave-roosting species? Enwebb (talk) 03:14, 3 November 2017 (UTC)
Done. Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:48, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

GA criteria

  • The article is well written and complies with MOS guidelines on prose and grammar, structure and layout.
  • The article uses many reliable third-party sources, and makes frequent citations to them. I do not believe it contains original research.
  • The article covers the main aspects of the subject and remains focussed.
  • The article is neutral.
  • The article is stable.
  • The images are relevant and have suitable captions, and are either in the public domain or are properly licensed.
  • Final assessment - I am happy with the improvements made to the article and believe it reaches the GA criteria. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:07, 4 November 2017 (UTC)
Many thanks for the review. BTW this is a Million Award article, well done everyone. Chiswick Chap (talk) 10:32, 4 November 2017 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Bat/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Yinpterochiroptera

Gameplan

Engvar

Dracula image

Getting ready for FAC

Disease coverage

Adaptations section

"It takes a lot of energy and an efficient circulatory system to work the flight muscles of bats."

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