Greater mouse-tailed bats crawl backwards
Sahar Hajyahia et al. 2025
Orientating yourself in the darkness of a cave seems like a difficult task. But some bats may have an ingenious solution: using their tails.
Greater mouse-tailed bats (Rhinopoma microphyllum) live in groups inside small caves where flying is challenging, so they hang from the cave’s walls and move deeper into it by crawling backwards. They manoeuvre this way in many situations, such as in response to the appearance of a predator, or when they want to find a better position in the cave.
Biologists have long wondered whether these bats…
