geekosystem

I've never seen a bat lapping up nectar before, but even if I had I didn't see it in close up slow motion, and frankly that's the only way to watch a bat lap up nectar. This video from Brown University shows a species of bat that not only has a crazy long tongue, but it also has lingual papillae which fill with blood and extend from the tongue to create more surface area and pull in more nectar.

Here's some nightmare fuel you could have gone the rest of your life without knowing: every continent except Antarctica hosts spiders so large, they can trap bats in their webs. That's according to a study released earlier this month in the open-access journal PLOS ONE that records in often gruesome detail 50 incidents of spiders ensnaring bats. In related news, who is moving to Antarctica with me right the hell now?

Earlier today, we brought you news of a sea lion that dances along to Backstreet Boys. This evening brings more news of animals partaking in an activity once thought to be the sole dominion of enlightened animals like us humans: Oral sex. Analysis of a colony of flying foxes in India found that males of the species perform oral sex on females. Yup, you read that right.

The ever dependable and humorous Ze Frank has returned with another series of entertaining and (mostly) true facts about the noble fruit bat -- both the mega and micro varieties, so there's something for everyone. Watch the video below to learn more about the gentle, well-intentioned, and weirdly adorable breeds of bat that don't suck blood and try not to want one as a pet. Go on, try. You can't do it, because that would be amazing!

Bats are in bad shape, America. A fungal disease, white nose syndrome, is wiping our nests of the furry flyers from sea to shining sea, and all efforts to contain it have been met with failure. The wonderfully well-intentioned hippies at The Nature Conservancy are pulling out all the stops to stem the tide of the disease, though, crafting the world's first artificial bat cave as what they hope will be a sanctuary against the deadly epidemic. The high-tech lab and crime fighting hot rod are, as always, sold separately.

Stefan Greif from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and team discovered that Natterer's bats listen for the sound of copulating flies to locate and eat them. Apparently, the bats can hear the buzzing noise emitted by male flies while mating, alerting them to the narrow window of opportunity to score a double meal.

The Internet Animal Orchestra, a brilliant video compilation painstakingly assembled by RatherGood, screaming monkeys, rabbits, snapping shrimp, a dog that screams 'elm,' a woodpecker, a cow, turtles and tortoises, a bald eagle, an echolocating bat, a boxer dog, an elephant, a husky that says 'I love you,' a Sumatran tiger cub, a sheep, a goat, a rooster, a humpback whale and her calf, a piano-playing pig, several owls and miscellaneous dogs join voices and noisy appendages to bring you one glorious song.

According to a new and very important scientific study, bats that are 'drunk' on fermented fruits and nectar have no trouble flying straight.

Scientists theorize that bats have developed higher alcohol tolerance precisely because their diets contain so much natural alcohol: