Bats became a hot topic to headline ever since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Their alleged association to the spread of this deadly virus leading to a global pandemic has made the species all the more maligned and misunderstood.
A report in Times Now shed light on an unusual observation made by scientists in Rajasthan. They have witnessed Indian Flying Fox bats indulging in homosexual activities in the jungles of Chittorgarh.
The Indian flying fox is also known as the greater Indian fruit bat. It is one of the largest bats in the world.
The scientists had observed one male bat performing fellatio on another male which kept its eyes closed. The findings have been published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa.
The research paper states that it is a rare behaviour and is suspected as a way to help male resolve aggressive relationships within the bat colonies. This is something quite common among wild dogs and hyenas, where one tries to appease the other who is more dominant in the social hierarchy.
Speaking of bats, a couple of days ago the picture of a "human-sized" bat from the Philippines went viral.
A Twitter user posted a picture and wrote," Remember when I told y'all about the Philippines having human-sized bats? Yeah, this was what I was talking about.
Later, the Twitter user apologized for using the word "human-sized" in his tweet as the wingspan of the bat is 5.58 and not its height.
Apparently, the picture is of the endangered golden-crowned flying foxes which are found in the Philippines. They aren't known to be a threat to humans. Their diet mostly consists of figs and other fruits. The giant golden-crowned flying fox is endemic to the Philippines.
It is a forest specialist, occurring mostly at elevations from sea level to 1,100 m. It prefers areas uninhabited by humans. They also like to be close to agricultural fields, but only in undisturbed forest areas
