the featherless truth bats vs birds
Brittany Marie Jenkins
October 29, 2014
Essay One Rough Draft
Compare & Contrast
The Featherless Truth.
Despite peoples beliefs Bats and Birds are very different, on the contrary the two animals do share some common attributes. Many people from scientist's, to bird watchers, or just nature lovers look at a bat, and for many of those people they have the same thought go through their mind, what is it a bird?, a mammal?, or simply a freak of nature? The answer is yes, Bats are mammals! Definitely not freaks of nature. Although bats like birds fly around, eat insects, and pollinate flowers or tree's the animal is simply not classified as a bird. Bats and birds are different; a long time ago people believed bats were featherless birds, but now we know that there is no such thing as a featherless bird. We know that bats like people are mammals, and have hair along with fur on their bodies. Bats give birth to live young which are called pups. Pups are born without hair like rats, and are tiny with pink skin. They drink milk produced from their mothers through a process called lactation. Breast milk is crucial to mammals, because the milk contains colostrum, and several other crucial nutrients that help them survive. Colostrum is the first milk a mammal consumes after birth, most species will generate colostrum just prior to giving birth. From birth the babies develop strong legs and claws to help hang on to their mother when shes roosting, and to the cave walls when shes away. If the pup looses its grip and falls, it will die. A fact that has been proven, is that bats only have one pup a year. Most mammals of small size produce more offspring than that such as cats, rabbits, and rats. Bats are found in almost all parts of the world, and perform fundamental ecological roles. There are approximately 1,100 bat species known. Bat species are divided into two suborders Megachiroptera which include flying foxes or fruit bats, and are primarily found across the water in
October 29, 2014
Essay One Rough Draft
Compare & Contrast
The Featherless Truth.
Despite peoples beliefs Bats and Birds are very different, on the contrary the two animals do share some common attributes. Many people from scientist's, to bird watchers, or just nature lovers look at a bat, and for many of those people they have the same thought go through their mind, what is it a bird?, a mammal?, or simply a freak of nature? The answer is yes, Bats are mammals! Definitely not freaks of nature. Although bats like birds fly around, eat insects, and pollinate flowers or tree's the animal is simply not classified as a bird. Bats and birds are different; a long time ago people believed bats were featherless birds, but now we know that there is no such thing as a featherless bird. We know that bats like people are mammals, and have hair along with fur on their bodies. Bats give birth to live young which are called pups. Pups are born without hair like rats, and are tiny with pink skin. They drink milk produced from their mothers through a process called lactation. Breast milk is crucial to mammals, because the milk contains colostrum, and several other crucial nutrients that help them survive. Colostrum is the first milk a mammal consumes after birth, most species will generate colostrum just prior to giving birth. From birth the babies develop strong legs and claws to help hang on to their mother when shes roosting, and to the cave walls when shes away. If the pup looses its grip and falls, it will die. A fact that has been proven, is that bats only have one pup a year. Most mammals of small size produce more offspring than that such as cats, rabbits, and rats. Bats are found in almost all parts of the world, and perform fundamental ecological roles. There are approximately 1,100 bat species known. Bat species are divided into two suborders Megachiroptera which include flying foxes or fruit bats, and are primarily found across the water in