Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera. With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more maneuverable than birds, flying with their very long spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium. The second largest order of mammals after rodents, bats comprise about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with over 1,400 species. These were traditionally divided into two suborders: the largely fruit-eating mega bats, and the echo locating micro bats.

Bats provide humans with some direct benefits, at the cost of some disadvantages. On the benefits side, bat dung has been and in many places still is mined as guano from caves and used as fertilizer. On the disadvantages side, fruit bats are frequently considered a pest by fruit growers. Due to their physiology, bats are one type of animal that acts as a natural reservoir of many pathogens, such as rabies; and since they are highly mobile, social, and long-lived, they can readily spread disease among themselves.