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This is a genus of the bat order - from the 'megabats' sub-order - called the Flying-fox. This example is one of the more common species seen in northern Australia - a Black Flying-fox. The name 'flying-fox' is confusing because they are no relation to foxes (though their faces resemble those of foxes). Biologically they are more closely related to we humans than their 'microbat' cousins found in Europe and the USA. Flying-foxes do not occur naturally there. They are also inappropriately sometimes called Fruit bats. They rarely eat fruit. When they do eat cultivated fruit though they can devastate crops. They feed mostly on pollen and nectar (and are therefore vital to preventing forest inbreeding and the subsequent death of species that live in our forests, like koalas, because they carry the pollen long distances), they are not nocturnal, nor do they hibernate in winter or use 'echo-location'. Their eyesight is as good as humans in the day and better than ours at night. They prefer to roost in trees and don't enter caves or homes, unlike their northern hemisphere cousins that are the subject of so many scary stories. True to their 'megabat' classification, this type can reach a kilo in weight and a metre or more in width.

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1 comment

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    • photo of cosmogirl248
    • Amazing capture! Lora

    • said cosmogirl248

    • 2009.08.11 at 23:57:16 PDT

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