What is the only mammal capable of true, flapping flight?
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Just show me the answer
The answer is Bat.
Flying squirrels, sugar gliders and colugos all have a stretchy flap of furry skin between their limbs. They launch from a high branch and glide down — but they can’t flap to climb back up. That makes them gliders, not fliers.
Bats are different. They beat their wings to create lift, so they can take off, climb, hover and turn on a dime. That’s powered flight, and among mammals only bats can do it.
Facts to bring to dinner
1 in 5
Roughly one in every five mammal species is a bat — more than 1,400 kinds.
Hands!
A bat’s wing is really a hand: long finger bones stretch a thin sheet of skin.
Echo
Many bats hunt in the dark by listening to the echoes of their own calls.
Stump a friend with this one