The Order Chiroptera has traditionally been divided into two suborders, Megachiroptera ("megabats") and Microchiroptera ("microbats"). The former contained just under 200 species of Old World fruit bats, all within a single family Pteropodidae, while the latter contained roughly 1000 species in about twenty families worldwide. The megachiropterans are broadly distinct from microchiropterans in both appearance and behaviour. One notable characteristic is that they navigate primarily through sight (only the species in the subfamily Rousettinae are known to possess the ability to echolocate, in contrast to Microchiroptera in which all species use sonar).
There have been suggestions raised in the past that the two groups are the result of separate evolutionary origins, with the megachiropterans being most closely related to Primates and the microchiropterans being derived from Insectivores. However, DNA studies have shown that not only is Chiroptera monophyletic but that some of the microchiropterans are actually more closely related to megachiropterans. This resulted in the two suborders noted above being discarded and replaced with Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera. The former houses the family Pteropodidae (i.e. all the Megachiroptera) as well as the microchiropterans of the superfamily Rhinolophoidea - that is, the families Megadermatidae (False Vampire Bats), Hipposideridae (Old World Leaf-nosed Bats), Rhinolophidae (Horseshoe Bats), Rhinopomatidae (Mouse-tailed Bats) and Craseonycteridae (Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat).
Alternative names for these two groupings are Pteropodiformes (for Yinpterochiroptera) and Vespertilioniformes (for Yangochiroptera).
In this thread I have divided the Order into Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera, but I will continue to use the terms "megachiropteran" and "microchiropteran" in a general sense.
There are somewhere between 1000 and 1300 species of Chiroptera recognised worldwide. There is not always agreement amongst taxonomists as to what constitutes a species versus a mere subspecies, hence the wide range in the number of "recognised species", and new species are additionally described quite often (as both genuine discoveries of unknown taxa, and through elevation of subspecies). In this thread, the total listed comes out at around 1300 species.
Bats are relatively rare zoo inhabitants, so the percentage of represented species in this thread will be very low indeed in comparison to the other threads in the mammal taxonomy series. I will cover the Order by genera, and while some may have multiple species depicted (e.g. Pteropus), many of the microchiropteran genera in particular will be entirely unrepresented by photos.
I have used photos of museum specimens in cases where these are the only examples available in the Zoochat galleries, although I'm not terribly interested in anyone uploading photos of taxidermied animals for this specific purpose.
Of course thanks are given to all the hard-working photographers who make these threads (and the future threads) possible. The list of members whose photos have been used in this thread is here on page 9 - The Zoochat Photographic Guide to Bats
There have been suggestions raised in the past that the two groups are the result of separate evolutionary origins, with the megachiropterans being most closely related to Primates and the microchiropterans being derived from Insectivores. However, DNA studies have shown that not only is Chiroptera monophyletic but that some of the microchiropterans are actually more closely related to megachiropterans. This resulted in the two suborders noted above being discarded and replaced with Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera. The former houses the family Pteropodidae (i.e. all the Megachiroptera) as well as the microchiropterans of the superfamily Rhinolophoidea - that is, the families Megadermatidae (False Vampire Bats), Hipposideridae (Old World Leaf-nosed Bats), Rhinolophidae (Horseshoe Bats), Rhinopomatidae (Mouse-tailed Bats) and Craseonycteridae (Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat).
Alternative names for these two groupings are Pteropodiformes (for Yinpterochiroptera) and Vespertilioniformes (for Yangochiroptera).
In this thread I have divided the Order into Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera, but I will continue to use the terms "megachiropteran" and "microchiropteran" in a general sense.
There are somewhere between 1000 and 1300 species of Chiroptera recognised worldwide. There is not always agreement amongst taxonomists as to what constitutes a species versus a mere subspecies, hence the wide range in the number of "recognised species", and new species are additionally described quite often (as both genuine discoveries of unknown taxa, and through elevation of subspecies). In this thread, the total listed comes out at around 1300 species.
Bats are relatively rare zoo inhabitants, so the percentage of represented species in this thread will be very low indeed in comparison to the other threads in the mammal taxonomy series. I will cover the Order by genera, and while some may have multiple species depicted (e.g. Pteropus), many of the microchiropteran genera in particular will be entirely unrepresented by photos.
I have used photos of museum specimens in cases where these are the only examples available in the Zoochat galleries, although I'm not terribly interested in anyone uploading photos of taxidermied animals for this specific purpose.
Of course thanks are given to all the hard-working photographers who make these threads (and the future threads) possible. The list of members whose photos have been used in this thread is here on page 9 - The Zoochat Photographic Guide to Bats
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