Summery
A one of a kind new discovery shows that the small little disease-carrying, blood-suckers that most people have never seen or heard of show that "bat flies" have been doing their noxious business with bats for over 20 million years. This bat or so called "vampire" feeds on anything from sheep to dogs and humans. Reachers from Oregon State University say that the bat fly was perfectly preserved for a very long time in the semi-precious stone (tree). "Bat Flies are a remarkable case of specific evolution that have co-evolved with bats and are found nowhere else" says George Poinar Jr., an OSU professor of zoology."Bats are mammals that go back about 50 million years, the only true flying mammal, and the earliest species had claws and climbed trees," Poinar said. "We now know that bat flies have been parasitizing them for at least half that time, and they are found exclusively in their fur. They are somewhat flat-sided like a flea, allowing them to move more easily through bat fur."
Impact
The impact that this article and study will have on the scientific world may not be drastic but could help scientists have an understanding on bats. Scientists now know that not every bat is infested with bat flies, and some flies are only on specific species of bats. But are still common all around the world. These types of bats that carry bat flies can be somewhat dangerous to humans. Bats that have this condition will suck human blood, and have before.
critique
I found that this article was information and taught me the dangers of bats. One fact that I found interesting was that "bat flies only leave their bat in order to mate", says Dr. Poinar. He also says that they found the bat flies in the tree when they were mating. Overall the article was good and had some good facts.
References: http://www.biologynews.net
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I never knew that bats suck blood out of humans too. I think another thing about the impact is that figuring this out could cause a cure for disease that are spread thorugh sucking blood with its from mosquitos or thorugh bats. I didnt understand if you were talking about blood drinking bat flies or of thats themselves?
ReplyDeleteI like how you gave alot of information for anyone who reads it to understand. i really like your topic and i have learned alot. Your topic threw me off because at first i thought you ment human vampires but it was about blood sucking bats. That was a good way to attract your readers :)
I like your title it got my attention right away. This is something that I didn't know about bats at all. I just thought that they ate bugs and other insects, but this is good to know. Is this parasite species of bat part bat and part fly, or just a bat that is called a bat flies.
ReplyDeleteEither way they truely, quite interesting. I also did not know that bats were around for that long before. It was a surprise to me that this species of bat would go after humans, and animals that seem to be at least 3x's its size.