Short Wave - FACT SMACK: Bats! They're Cooler Than Birds

Episode Date: July 5, 2021

With the help of ecologist Rodrigo Medellín, the "Bat Man of Mexico," Rasha Aridi (former Short Waver) presents the case for why bats are the best and coolest flying creatures out there! Are you a scientist who thinks Rodrigo is wrong and that the animal you study is superior? Let us know! You can email us at [e-mail]. We'd love to hear the case for your critter.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey y'all, Maddie Safai here with former Shortwave intern Rasha Aireedi, first time in front of the mic. Whoop, whoop, whoop. Hi, Rasha. Hey, Maddie. Oh, I'm so excited for this. Me too, dude. What you got?

So for the last few months, we've been nerding out over weird critters together. It's been a delight. And I've joked, semi-joked, that my entire personality is dishing out critter facts to my family in front. So I thought I'd do the same to our listeners. Maddie Safaya, are you ready for the next round of animal fact smack? Yes. For all of those who forgot, this is the series in which we bring on a scientist to talk smack using facts. To prove once and for all that the animal they study is the best.

Now, this might go without saying, but this isn't totally objective. And honestly, every critter is a winner. We just love animal facts and smack talk. That we do, Rasha, that we do. Last time, Sebastian Atchavari tried to convince us that spiders are the coolest. And I got to say, Rosh, that's going to be hard to be. What do we got? You know I've got a soft spot for the little critters that undeservedly so nobody seems to love.

And I was thinking, you know what animals are really misunderstood? Bats. People consider bats like envoys of the devil, creatures of the night, animals who convey all kinds of dirty. things, and unfortunately, that is all untrue. Meet Rajigoméry. He's a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a National Geographic Explorer at large. He has an awesome nickname. They call me Batman. Roger, you got Batman on the line? Of course I did. He spent more than 45 years of

researching and advocating for bats, so he is ready for this Smackdown. All bad biologists are fully. convinced that bats are the best and we proclaim it to the four wins. Once you learn about all of these facts about bats, you cannot go back. You become a bad defender for life. Ooh, Rasha, I love it, I love it. I got to say, I'm pretty pumped for this fact smack. Me too, Maddie. I've been practicing my whole life for this. So today on the show, we'll talk all things bats. Their essential role in the environment and how they do everything a bird can do, but better.

Dang, all right, let's do it. This is Shortwave, the Daily Science Podcast from NPR. Okay, Rasha, before we get into our Backfax Smackdown with Rodrigo, let's talk about the complicated reputation bats have around the world. Yeah, let's start with the good stuff. There are positive images of bats and cultures all over the world, parts of South America, China, some Native American tribes. But they've also gotten a bad rap.

They've been associated with witchcraft and were loosely involved with European vampire folklore, which became very popular following the publication of a certain book. It's a wonderful piece of work. Dracula. Mm, Dracula, of course. So the author behind Dracula is Bram Stoker, and nobody really knows exactly what was going on in his mind. But according to this story, Rodrigo told me, Stoker came across an account describing vampire bats, which fly around at night and drink blood. Inspired by what he read, he created Dracula,

a character who could shape shift into a wolf, for instance, or even a bat. He created so much work for all of us, and we're still fighting tooth and nail against the negative connotations that it has. Yeah, I mean, there's definitely some anti-bat sentiment out there, especially around them as pests or carriers of disease. But like we've talked about on the show before, our problems with bats happen when we move into their space, destroying or fragmenting habitats, putting ourselves closer to them and other wildlife.

Exactly. So this leaves people like Rodrigo trying to defend the good name of bats, which is what we're doing today. I'm ready. And before we get into it, I've got to mention, bats are mammals, not birds. Okay? Okay, weird place to start. Listen, Maddie, that's important because bat species make up around 20% of all species of mammals. Dang. Okay. I did not expect a number that high. Right? There are around 1,400 species of bats. They're

the second largest group of mammals right behind rodents. And within this huge group of bats, there's so much incredible diversity. You've got bats that are like an inch tall. They're really cute. Others that have a wingspan that goes up to five and a half feet. That's taller than me. That's wild. It's wild. It's wild. The range, Rasha. Okay. Plus, they live like everywhere, right? Yes, they're found on every continent except Antarctica. So different species can be found living in icy caves, others in the tropics. So odds are, wherever our listeners live, bats are probably nearby. And, Maddie, that brings me to my next point.

Part of why bats are found almost everywhere is because they can fly. And get this. Of all the mammal species in the world, bats are the only ones that can truly fly. Right. I know there are flying squirrels and lemurs, but, you know, they technically glide. And gliden ain't flying. Gladden ain't flying. And bats aren't just the only flying mammals, but they straight up fly better than birds. Okay.

What? I know. It's wild. And you know I'm hashtag team bird, but bats totally take the cake here. Let's look at the Peregrine falcon. It's considered the fastest bird and maybe even the fastest animal in the world. But that has been a lie all along because Paragon is. falcons are cheaters. Rasha oridi, how does a bird cheat? Well, peregrine falcons dive bomb their prey,

and with some help from their body shape and gravity, they can reach around 200 miles per hour. Whoa. But if you look at their self-powered flight, it's about a measly 60 miles per hour. Okay, measly, Rasha? Measly, Maddie. Because this one species, the Brazilian freetailed bat can reach around 100 miles per hour using just self-powered flight. That's all on its own. No cheating involved. A hundred miles an hour of an animal that is about 15 grams, half of an ounce, and it's flying through the wind without any effort at 100 miles an hour.

This is really the fastest animal on Earth. I mean, little Duteroino is cruising, Rasha. Cruze in. And it all comes down to anatomy. Just take a look at your hands right now. We've got lots of little bones and joints that let us be really dexterous. Well, bats basically have the same thing. They've got a forearm, four fingers, and a little thumb, and many, many joints in their wings.

Plus, that flap of skin that covers the wing is way more flexible and maneuverable than feathers are. They're faster. They're a lot more agile. They break into different directions much faster and easier than any bird. So we should be saying fly like a bat instead of fly like a bird. That's exactly what I'm saying, because bats are star athletes, which also makes them star hunters. Go on. So get this.

There's this one bat, the little brown bat, and each individual can eat more than 1,200 mosquito-sized insects. Per night? Please, Maddie. That's per hour. That's too many. That's too many. It's so cool. And they do this using echolocation.

Oh, yeah, that move where they give out little. clicks and then those sound waves bounce off objects. Right, like on something as small as a gnat, and those sound waves come back to the bat's ears. And from there, they can figure out whether it is edible or not, project its trajectory, intercept it, and eat it. And when they do this at a huge scale, it has massive ecological implications, like pest control. Take the Mexican free-tailed bat. It mostly eats bugs and insects. So the bats keep all the bats. those little critters from totally eating their way through plants and vegetation, and beyond helping keep those bug and insect populations in check, these bats also directly impact our lives, because

they eat the things that munch on the cotton, corn, and other crops that farmers are growing. Each million of these bats destroys 10 tons of insects every night. Try to visualize what 10 tons of insects look like, and then multiply that per day per million bats. Dang. It's mind blowing. My mind is blown. It's bat blown right now. Okay, so you're saying we owe a big thanks to bats for not letting insects devour a lot of

our crops. Exactly. And Rodrigo told me that pest control is just one of three big ecological roles that bats play. They're also amazing seed dispersers, so they'll pick up seeds, fly around and poop them out. and that keeps ecosystems healthy. But like a lot of species do this, right? Like birds. Maddie, we have been over this.

Whatever birds do, bats do better. Dags can disperse way more seeds than birds in a given time and space. Okay, these birds, they're nowhere near. Rasha, this is starting to feel like it's a lot about birds, to be honest. Maddie, you know I love birds, but they've gotten enough, enough attention as far as I'm concerned. We're all about bats these days, okay? Okay. What's the third role that bats play? They are also amazing pollinators. So if you like guava, mangoes, bananas, think a bat.

I will literally always think a bat. As you should. As we all should, Maddie. And this brings me to my favorite party fact. Oh boy. We have tequila because of bats. They are the main pollinators of the blue agave plant, which is used to make tequila and mescal. And it means a lot to Rodrigo. I am a Mexican. And I am a Mexican. and I'm proud of my legacy. I'm proud of my identity.

And a big part of my identity is this tequila thing and this mescal thing. Every year, tequila exports bring in the equivalent of more than a billion U.S. dollars to Mexico. And around 40,000 Mexican families are connected to the blue agave industry. So this is deeply embedded in our economy, but it's also deeply embedded in our culture. I love this. I love this, Russia. Yeah, it's pretty remarkable. All right, Maddie, that's all the fact-smacking. We can fit into one episode, but I'll leave you with this.

If you like your tacos in the midnight, if you like your coffee, your tea, if you like wearing your cotton shirt and you ate an amazing Spanish paella full of rice, there is your connection to bats. Every day of your life, every day of your listener's life is connected to bats. and the least we can do because of this is to thank them to raise our glass of tequila and the first sip to drink it to the health of bats to the long lives of bats.

I mean, I'll drink to that. Cheers to bats, Rasha. Cheers to bats. Cheers to bats, Maddie. So a huge thanks for Rodrigo for sharing his expertise with us. And a huge thanks to you, Rasha, for dropping facts and tucking smack for the first time ever.

on air. Anytime, Maddie. It was a joy. Thanks for having me. This episode was produced by Thomas Liu, edited by Viet Le and fact-checked by Indy Kara. The audio engineer was Patrick Murray. I'm Maddie Safaya. And I'm Rasha Aridi. Thanks for listening to Shortwave from NPR. Capitalism touches every part of our lives. Capitalism is a giant force that I don't understand. I feel that it's a very safe system.

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