instance_of microbat
The microbats constitute the now outdated suborder Microchiroptera within the ___MASK23___ Chiroptera ( bats ) . Bats were once differentiated into Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera , based on their size , but based on available molecular ___MASK33___ this has now been shown to be incorrect , with the horseshoe bats being included in Yinpterochiroptera with the fruit bats and others . Most species which were termed Microchiroptera are now referred to as the Yangochiroptera . The distinctions between microbats and megabats are : Microbats use echolocation , whereas megabats do not typically . ( The Egyptian fruit bat Rousettus egyptiacus is an exception , but does not use the larynx echolocation method of microbats , instead giving scientists the theory that it clicks using its nasal passages and back of its tongue . ) Microbats lack the claw at the second finger of the forelimb . This finger appears thinner and almost bonded by tissue with the third finger for extra support during flight . Megabats always lack a tail , whereas this trait only occurs in certain species of microbats . The ears of microbats possess a tragus ( thought to be crucial in echolocation ) and are respectively larger than megabat ears , whereas megabat ears are comparatively small and lack a tragus . Megabat eyes are quite large , whereas microbat eyes are comparatively smaller . Most microbats feed on insects . Some of the larger species hunt birds , lizards , frogs , smaller bats or even fish . The three species of microbats that feed on the blood of large mammals or birds ( vampire bats ) exist in the Americas south of the United States . Microbats are 4 to 16 cm long . Leaf - nosed microbat species are not all known to be fruit and nectar - eating . Three species of leaf - nosed bats follow the bloom of columnar cacti in northwest Mexico and Southwest United States northward in the spring and then the blooming agaves southward in the fall . Yet other leaf - nosed bats , such as Vampyrum spectrum of South America , hunt a variety of prey such as lizards and birds . The horseshoe bats of Europe , though , have an incredibly intricate leaf - nose for echolocation and feed primarily on insects . Finally , the California leaf - nosed bat of North America is yet another insectivore to have this trait , as its name indicates . The term `` leaf - nose , '' despite common fallacy , applies to a great variety of microbats and does in no way dictate the variety of diet a species with this trait prefers . The Yinpterochiroptera , or Pteropodiformes , are a proposed suborder of the Chiroptera , which includes the megabats and ___MASK37___ of the microbat families : Rhinopomatidae , Rhinolophidae , Hipposideridae , Craseonycteridae , and Megadermatidae . This ___MASK31___ is primarily based on molecular genetics data . This is a relatively recent proposal , which challenges the traditional view that megabats and microbats form monophyletic groups of bats . Further studies are being conducted , using both molecular and morphological cladistic methodology , to assess its merit . The patagium is a membranous ___MASK98___ that assists an animal in gliding or flight . The ___MASK98___ is found in bats , birds , some dromaeosaurs , pterosaurs , and gliding mammals . The Hipposideridae are a ___MASK66___ of bats commonly known as the Old World leaf - nosed bats . While it has often been seen as a subfamily , Hipposiderinae , of the ___MASK66___ Rhinolophidae , it is now more generally classified as its own ___MASK66___ . Nevertheless , it is most closely related to Rhinolophidae within the suborder Pteropodiformes ( or Yinpterochiroptera ). Flying squirrels ( scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini ) are a ___MASK38___ of 44 species of squirrels in the ___MASK66___ Sciuridae . They are not capable of flight in the same way as birds or bats but are able to glide from one ___MASK19___ to another with the aid of a patagium , a furry , ___MASK1___ - like ___MASK88___ that stretches from wrist to ankle . Their long tail provides stability in flight . Anatomically they are very similar to other squirrels but have a number of adaptations to suit their life style ; their limb bones are longer and their hand , foot bones and distal vertebrae are shorter . While flying they are able to steer and exert control over their glide path with their limbs and tail . Birds ( Aves ), also known as avian dinosaurs , are a ___MASK43___ of endothermic vertebrates , characterised by feathers , toothless beaked jaws , the laying of hard - shelled eggs , a high metabolic rate , a ___MASK91___ - chambered heart , and a lightweight but strong ___MASK9___ . Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich . They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species , at approximately ten thousand , with more than half of these being passerines , sometimes known as perching birds or , less accurately , as songbirds . In computing , ___MASK94___ ( pronounced " Win Gee ") is an ___MASK22___ programming interface that is a port of Windows 95 ' s Device Independent Bitmaps to provide faster graphics performance on Windows 3 . x operating environments , and was initially positioned as a way to help game developers more easily port their DOS games to Microsoft Windows , although it was quickly discontinued in favor of DirectX . The Yangochiroptera , or Vespertilioniformes , is a proposed suborder of Chiroptera that includes most of the microbat families , except the Rhinopomatidae , Rhinolophidae , Hipposideridae and the Megadermatidae . These other families , plus the megabats , are seen as ___MASK58___ of another suborder , Yinpterochiroptera . Bats are mammals of the ___MASK23___ Chiroptera ( from the - " cheir ", " hand " and - " pteron ", " ___MASK94___ ") whose forelimbs form webbed wings , making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight . By contrast , other mammals said to fly , such as flying squirrels , gliding possums , and colugos , can only glide for short distances . Bats do not flap their entire forelimbs , as birds do , but instead flap their spread - out digits , which are very long and covered with a thin ___MASK88___ or patagium . A forelimb is an anterior ___MASK70___ ( arm , leg , or similar appendage ) on a terrestrial vertebrate ' s body . For quadrupeds , the term foreleg is often used instead . ( A forearm however is the ___MASK58___ of the arm or forelimb between the elbow and the wrist .) Flight is the ___MASK44___ by which an ___MASK24___ moves , through an ___MASK83___ ( the air in the ___MASK49___ of earth ) or beyond it ( as in the ___MASK49___ of ___MASK81___ ) without direct support from any ___MASK92___ . This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift , propulsive thrust , aerostatically using buoyancy , or by ballistic movement . Megabats constitute the suborder Megachiroptera , and its only ___MASK66___ Pteropodidae of the ___MASK23___ Chiroptera ( bats ). They are also called fruit bats , Old World fruit bats , or , especially the genera " Acerodon " and " Pteropus ", flying foxes . Fruit bats are restricted to the Old World in a tropical and subtropical distribution , ranging no further than the eastern Mediterranean and South Asia , and are absent from northwest Africa and southwest Australia . Compared to insectivorous bats , fruit bats are relatively large and , with some exceptions , do not navigate by echolocation . They are herbivores and rely on their keen senses of sight and smell to locate ___MASK67___ . Megadermatidae , or false ___MASK7___ bats , are a ___MASK66___ of bats found from central Africa , eastwards through southern Asia , and into Australia . They are relatively large bats , ranging from 6 . 5 cm to 14 cm in ___MASK28___ - body length . They have large eyes , very large ears and a prominent nose - leaf . They have a wide ___MASK88___ between the hind legs , or uropatagium , but no tail . Many species are a drab brown in color , but some are white , bluish - grey or even olive - green , helping to camouflage them against their preferred roosting environments . They are primarily insectivorous , but will also eat a wide range of small vertebrates . Mammals are any vertebrates within the ___MASK16___ Mammalia ( from Latin " mamma " " breast "), a ___MASK54___ of endothermic amniotes distinguished from reptiles and birds by the possession of a neocortex ( a region of the ___MASK25___ ), hair , three middle ear bones and mammary glands . The sister group of mammals may be the extinct " Haldanodon ." The mammals represent the only living Synapsida , which together with the Sauropsida form the Amniota ___MASK54___ . The mammals consist of the Yinotheria including monotrema and the Theriiformes including the theria . Colugos are arboreal gliding mammals found in Southeast Asia . Just ___MASK71___ extant ___MASK48___ make up the entire ___MASK66___ Cynocephalidae and ___MASK23___ Dermoptera . They are the most capable gliders of all gliding mammals , using flaps of extra ___MASK27___ between their legs to glide from higher to lower locations . They are also known as cobegos or flying lemurs , although they are not true lemurs .