#mouse eared bat

[todaysbat]

Welwitsch's bat perhaps??

image description: an orange bat with mostly black wings and black freckles on its wings and muzzle roosts with one wing outstretched image source: Jakob Fahr, via iNaturalist

Welwitsch's myotis (Myotis welwitschii) Also known as Welwitsch's bat or Welwitsch's mouse-eared bat, this species of bat can be found throughout much of eastern and southern Africa in a variety of habitats.

[daisyocarl]

Mouse Eared Bats /  A-Brehm / August Sprecht 1901

[todaysbat]

Bats buzz like hornets to scare off owl predators

Alarming impression is first known case of a mammal copying an insect to deter hostile species.

Some bats can imitate the sound of buzzing hornets to scare off owls, researchers say. The discovery is the first documented case of a mammal mimicking an insect to deter predators.

Many animals copy other creatures in a bid to make themselves seem less palatable to predators. Most of these imitations are visual. North America’s non-venomous scarlet kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides), for instance, has evolved to have similar colour-coding to the decidedly more dangerous eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius).

Now, a study comparing the behaviour of owls exposed to insect and bat noises suggests that greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) might be among the few animals to have weaponized another species’ sound, says co-author Danilo Russo, an animal ecologist at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy.