����ֱ��

Bats have an important role in ecosystems and global biodiversity. In tropical ecosystems, fruit eating bats disperse more than ninety percent of the seeds of important plants, thereby acting as farmers of the forest and contributing largely to reforestation, especially after a clear-cut. In desert ecosystems, like those in Mexico and the southwestern United States, bats cross-pollinate critical keystone plants, such as the saguaro cacti, that support hundreds of other species in desert environments.

Bats are fascinating and complex animals. They have nothing to do with a Halloween “spooky” decoration or the evil Count that drinks the blood of people, as it has been portrayed in popular culture. You will be surprised to know that their brain presents some similarities to the human brain, and they can help us to understand the world and even ourselves. That is why scientists study bats to understand neural processing in areas of spatial navigation, sensory perception, social behavior, and decision making.

The general perception is that bats are a menace to human health because they can carry diseases However, it is little known that bats have contributed to our understanding of health and disease. The visibility of their blood vessels in their wings has helped to study the effect of alcohol and other drugs on veins and arteries. Even more, the anticoagulant in the saliva of common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) is used as an anti-clotting agent in human patients. In addition, due to the bats resistance to infectious diseases, they have been used in research about efficiency of immune system responses.