Category: Mammals
This medium sized bear is the most common and widespread of all bear species. They generally prefer to live in the forest but these opportunistic omnivores will leave the forest in search of food, often ending up near or in human inhabited areas. They are more closely related to Asian black bears than to the other American bear species, brown bears and polar bears. Black bears are highly dexterous and possess great physical strength. Their average lifespan in the wild is about 18 years.
Bats: The Only True-Flying Mammal
Bats, the only mammal capable of true flight, are not blind - their eyes are just fine, thank you very much. But instead of eyes, most bats rely on an incredibly fine-tuned sense of hearing when they fly and hunt. Using a technique called echolocation, they emit high-pitched calls (usually above the range of human hearing), using the echos that are reflected back to them as a means of navigation and locating objects. The ears, auditory cortex, and (in a few cases) even noses of some bats are extraordinarily specialized for echolocation; there are even bats that have adapted the frequency of their calls to frequencies above or below what their favorite prey can hear!
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