bats

Bats are known for staying healthy even while harboring viral infections. Now, research sheds light on how their unusual immune system evolved.

Bats that experience food shortages due to climate change and habitat loss end up roosting in urban settings, where they shed more of the deadly Hendra virus. 

Parts of Southeast Asia where human and bat population densities are highest could be infection hotspots, a study finds.

Scientists reveal how mountain lions, elk, and other animals are making use of these underground areas in Colorado.

The behavior is the first example of a mammal mimicking a more-dangerous species.

Contrary to what researchers had assumed, Egyptian fruit bats don’t rely solely on sight to orient themselves as they drink and forage for food in daylight. 

According to a preprint, the common vampire bat lacks 13 genes present in other bat species, which may help explain their blood-only diet and other curious aspects of their lifestyle.

As they close in for the kill, the flying mammals use quieter echolocation to focus on the chase.

Sam Wilson discusses a user-friendly set of resources that he and his collaborators developed to aid labs pivoting to study COVID-19.

A study proposes that habitat for bats—and their accompanying coronaviruses—has increased in southern Asia over the last century, but experts debate the reliability of the analysis.

Bat species use different strategies to dampen immune activation in response to viruses.

Researchers demonstrate that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is more stable and binds the human ACE2 receptor with much higher affinity than the spike protein of its closest known relative, bat coronavirus RaTG13.

The Boston University professor, who died of complications related to COVID-19, spent more than 40 years researching the lives of bats.

The abrupt termination comes after the research drew President Trump’s attention for its ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

With more than 6,000 cases of the 2019-nCoV virus confirmed, researchers are hoping that studying the pathogen in the lab will help stop the outbreak.

EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak speaks with The Scientist about how pathogens like 2019-nCoV jump species, and how to head off the next pandemic.

Many plants reflect ultrasonic waves, thereby attracting the pollinators, but one cactus takes a different approach.

Bats that share food with their hungry cage-mates stay close after being released.

Bats move their ears fast to create frequency shifts in echoes that can give them more information about their prey targets or the surroundings they are navigating through.