A group of bats that fly as if they are very proud of their feet have been confirmed by the discovery that their toes have a remarkable talent. Under ultraviolet (UV) light, the fluffy feet of one particular bat in Mexico glow an eerie shade of green and blue, and it’s possible that this could be a way of communicating with other members of its species. A bat signal, if you will.
Some mammals glow. That’s a fact you have to accept. We’ve seen it in koalas, Tasmanian devils, echidnas, wombats, zebras and platypuses – and now we can add bats to the list. That doesn’t mean you’ll come face to face with a bat glowing like Mr Burns on a dark night – it’s a special type of photoluminescence that’s visible under UV light.
The bat species in question is the Mexican bulldog bat, Tadarida brasiliensisand it must be said that his extremely fluffy toes are already quite remarkable before they glow.
The phenomenon of glowing toes was not observed in other bats in the region.
Image courtesy of F. Gual Suárez
When 24 wild bats were captured and treated with a special UV light, it was discovered that the tips of their toes and the many bristles glowed blue-green. This strange feature was observed in several bats from one region and another Mexican bulldog bat captured about 700 kilometers away.
In addition, the sparkling toes are not found in all bat species. The team also examined the feet of Myotis velifer and saw no evidence of glowing bristles under UV light, proving that this is not a feature of all bat species.
What the Mexican bulldog bats do with their fluffy feet may suggest that they use them to communicate. The authors say that ultraviolet vision has been experimentally confirmed in bats, and that the flight position of these animals clearly places their fluffy toes front and center. With just enough UV radiation in the environment at dusk, this could be a visible and informative signal to other bats in the area, but more evidence is needed to know if this is really the case.
They say you should put your best foot forward, and with these clubs, that means both.
Photo credit: Poetra.RH / Shutterstock.com
For now, it adds an air of mystery to these remarkable creatures, whose talents make them the first of their kind in this group of bats in the world.
“This is the first molossid bat in which a photoluminescent structure has been described,” the authors concluded. “It remains to be seen whether a function exists, such as intraspecific communication.”
The article was published in the journal Mammalian Biology.
