Studying a Winged-mammal - on the Extremes of Mammalian Physiology

With over 1400 species, bats form the second largest order of mammals and probably the most diverse one in terms of behavior and geographical distribution. Bats can be found almost everywhere on the globe, their sizes range between 0.002 – 2 Kg, and they feed on almost anything one could imagine (insect, nectar, fruit, vertebrates and blood). Bats’ unique ability to fly allows them to move far rapidly with some bats migrating over thousands of kilometers. Bats unique physiology allows some of them to survive winter by lowering their body temperature to ca. 4 degrees. They are among the most social mammals, forming colonies of millions and their longevity is un-comparable to any other mammal when normalized to size - some 10gr species live more than 40 years. All of these characteristics, generate a constantly growing interest in bats as animal models in biology. While in the past, bats were mostly studied for their ability to echolocate, in recent years, they are emerging as models for studying navigation, learning and sociality and their neural correlates, microbiome, genetics and transmission of disease. I will give an overview of current research on bats, touching on new studies which address all of the topics above, including our own work on navigation, sociality and vocal learning.