Microbat vs. Flying Fox - What's the Difference?

2. Anatomy and Appearance

Microbats

Microbats are rather small, light animals. Their weight is 0.05-7.7 ounces (1.7-220 grams). Their wingspan is 5-40 inches (13-102 cm). The body length is 1.1-5.5 inches (29 mm-14 cm). Their eyes are small, too. Since they use echolocation for navigation, they aren't dependent on their sense of vision and don't need large eyes. Their ears are way bigger than those of flying foxes, which makes sense since they rely on echolocation to pick up on really faint sounds. There is a claw on the second digit. In the following picture you can see a pipistrelle bat and a pine moth - so you can get an idea of the proportions.

Nathusius's Pipistrelle - Photo: Rauno/stock.adobe.com

Largest microbats

Smallest microbats

Microbat Characteristics - Photo: Gucio_55/Shutterstock

Flying Fox

Flying foxes are rather large, heavy animals. Their weight ranges from 0.4 ounces to 3.5 pounds (12 grams to 1.6 kg). The wingspan is 11-67 inches (28-170 cm). The body length is 2.4-11 inches (61 mm-29 cm). Their name makes the size difference pretty obvious. Common bats are called Microbats. “Micro” means “very small” and “bat” means bat. The flying fox is a “Megabat”. “Mega” means “very large”. Flying foxes have large eyes that enhance their vision and a large body. However, their ears are notably smaller compared to those of microbats. The second digit is either a very short claw or none at all.

Largest Flying Foxes

Smallest Flying Foxes

Flying Fox Characteristics - Photo: rudiernst/stock.adobe.com

• Table of Contents
• 0. Introduction
• 1. Number of Species
• 2. Anatomy and Appearance
• 3. Distribution and Habitat
• 4. Life Style
• 5. Diet
• 6. Senses and Abilities
• 7. Importance for the Ecosystem
• 8. Summary