New Zealand Fur Seal
Seal pups, like bat pups, are born helpless and depend on their mothers for care and nourishment. Both animals typically give birth to a single pup and are provided high-fat milk to support their rapid growth. The pups remain in groups—seal pups in colonies and bat pups in roosts—where they are protected and learn important skills. While seal pups must learn to swim, bat pups develop their flying abilities. Over time, both become more independent, eventually leaving their mothers to explore and survive on their own.
Pygmy Blue Whale
While bats and pygmy blue whales live in vastly different environments, they both rely on sound to navigate their worlds. Bats use echolocation, sending out high-frequency calls to map their surroundings, hunt prey, and avoid obstacles in the dark. In contrast, pygmy blue whales use low-frequency vocalizations that can travel for miles underwater. These songs help the whales communicate, find mates, and navigate the open seas. Although their sounds serve different purposes and travel through different mediums – air for bats and water for whales – both have evolved to use this sense in quite remarkable ways.
Magnetite
Magnetite is a magnetic iron oxide that plays a vital role in how bats navigate. Found in bat tissues, particularly near their brains, magnetite particles act like tiny compasses, helping bats detect Earth's magnetic field. This ability is especially useful during long migrations and when foraging at night. Bats that roost in areas rich in magnetite, such as lava tubes or impact craters, may even 'calibrate' their internal compass. With this magnetic navigation, alongside their echolocation skills, bats can navigate in places where other navigation cues, like sight, are limited, such as dense forests or desert regions.
Moths
Many Australian microbats rely on moths as a key food source, using echolocation to detect the faintest flutter of their wings. By emitting high-pitched calls, they ‘see’ their surroundings and capture moths mid-flight with their mouths, tail or wings. Species like the Lesser Long-eared Bat (Nyctophilus geoffroyi) are particularly skilled at hunting moths, helping control their populations. However, moths have evolved ways to escape bats, such as producing ultrasonic clicks to jam echolocation or using erratic flight patterns and camouflage to avoid detection. This creates an ongoing evolutionary "arms race" between predator and prey.
Chimney
Bats, like the Little Bent-Wing Bat (Miniopterus australis) and Grey-Headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), often seek out dark, quiet spaces to roost during the day. While caves and tree hollows are their natural homes, urban environments, especially in older or rural buildings, offer chimneys as sheltered, cool spots. These bats use chimneys to avoid predators and the heat of the day. Additionally, the chimney’s top can provide an easy exit route for the bats when they are ready to leave for their nightly feeding sessions.
Cave
Caves provide the perfect shelter for many bat species, offering darkness, safety from predators, and stable temperatures. But bats don’t just use caves—they help shape them. Their guano (droppings) is a vital food source for cave-dwelling insects, fungi, and even bacteria, creating entire ecosystems that depend on bats. Some species transport seeds and pollen into cave entrances, supporting plant life nearby. By moving in and out of caves, bats also help circulate air and nutrients, keeping these underground environments thriving. Without bats, many cave ecosystems would struggle, showing just how important they are to life both inside and outside the cave.
