Fruit bat

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

(Redirected from Pteropodidae)

Fruit bat

Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Chiroptera Family: Pteropodidae
Genera
Subfamily Macroglossinae Macroglossus (long-tongued fruit bats) Megaloglossus (African long-tongued fruit bats) Eonycteris (dawn fruit bats) Syconycteris (blossom bats) Melonycteris Notopteris (long-tailed fruit bats) Subfamily Pteropodinae Eidolon (straw-coloured fruit bats) Rousettus (rousette fruit bats) Boneia Myonycteris (little collared fruit bats) Pteropus (flying foxes) Acerodon (including Giant golden-crowned flying fox) Neopteryx Pteralopex Styloctenium Dobsonia (bare-backed fruit bats) Aproteles (Bulmer's fruit bat) Harpyionycteris (harpy fruit bats) Plerotes Hypsignathus (hammer-headed fruit bats) Epomops (epauleted bats) Epomophorus (epauleted fruit bats) Micropteropus (dwarf epauleted bats) Nanonycteris (little flying cows) Scotonycteris Casinycteris Cynopterus (dog-faced fruit bats or short-nosed fruit bats) Megaerops Ptenochirus (Musky fruit bats) Dyacopterus (Dayak fruit bat) Chironax (black-capped fruit bats) Thoopterus (short-nosed fruit bats) Sphaerias (mountain fruit bats) Balionycteris (spotted-winged fruit bats) Aethalops (pygmy fruit bats) Penthetor (dusky fruit bats) Haplonycteris (Fischer's pygmy fruit bat or Philippine dwarf fruit bat) Otopteropus (Luzon dwarf fruit bat) Alionycteris (Mindanao dwarf fruit bat) Latidens Nyctimene (tube-nosed fruit bats) Paranyctimene (lesser tube-nosed fruit bats)

The fruit bat is fructivorous living off of specifically the fruit and nectar provided by plants. It is also one of the largest, reaching 16 inches in length with a wingspan of five feet. Fruit bats live only in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Eastern Hemisphere like, Africa, Asia, Australasia and Oceania. [1]

Anatomy

Fruit bats are a dark brown color with golden brown fur on their neck, and they have fur that covers most of their bodies. They can grow up to sixteen inches and have a wingspan of up to five feet. Another name that was giving to them are called "flying foxes" since their faces look like a Fox's face.[2]

The Pteropodidae or fruit bats teeth and short jaws are specifically adapted for piercing the rinds of tough fruit. [3] This is interesting in that they eat fruit yet have sharp teeth which to most coming from an evolutionary presupposition would point towards a meat-eating diet. A species teeth becomes a useful way to classify the animal as either herbivore or carnivore, however the fruit bat is a special example of a herbivorous animal with carnivorous like teeth.

The evolutionary model falls short in providing a consistent model of interpretation. What can be seen within a creation science model is that animals were likely vegetarians before the flood, many creation scientists take that stance. Yet evolutionists state this is impossible, they would claim using their method of interpretation that lions and other flesh-eating animals present today that have sharp, meat-eating teeth could not of eaten greens, they were not suited for such a diet, indeed observations today support that. However the fruit bat is just such an example that casts doubt because of its anatomy namely sharp teeth, while its diet is fruit not meat.

With this, it can be shown that it is not always prudent to use the teeth of an animal and its diet today as a model to extrapolate into the past, and then say all animals that had this type of teeth had this specific type of diet. The fruit bat becomes a way to show consistency with the biblical stance of vegetarian animals before the flood regardless of the type of teeth the animals now have.

28God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so. 31God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:28-31 (NASB)

Reproduction

In a colony of fruit bats one male will mate with up to eight females. The Giant Indian Fruit Bat (Pteropus giganteus) mating season goes from July to October and the mother usually has a single pup and cares for it up to 6 -7 weeks after birth. They will then begin to fly by 11 weeks, however weaning from the parent occurs after 5 months. [4]

Ecology

A colony of flying foxes in Australia

You can find fruit bats living within warm, tropical regions of the Eastern Hemisphere in dense forests such as Africa, Asia, Australasia, and Oceania. They sleep high in the trees as a survival mechanism allowing them to stay away from animals that would rather find an easy meal with these creatures down on the forest floor. Usually you can find bats within caves however fruit bats do not visit such places as they are too big and crowding would soon take place easier than with other smaller species.

Most bats depend completely on echolocation to find their way around because they cannot see good at all, however in stark contrast the fruit bat has excellent vision and has no need for echolocation. They also have a keen sense of smell which allows them to easily locate fruit, and flower nectar in the night sky. Bats are very agile fliers, however landing is when they usually have to crash into the branches of trees in an attempt to grab a branch while flying by. [5]