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megabat

megabat

1 8.1
A large bat that eats fruit and lives in warm areas
  • noun
  • /ˈmɛɡəˌbæt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : megabát

Examples

  • The phylogenetic relationship between the two groups of bats is complex, with megabats nesting among microbat lineages.

    Academic text (2008)
  • (a) Harem of the Indian fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx. This megabat species modifies the fruit stands of palms to create day roosts.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Megabats, which range from 15 to 1,500 grams (g) in body mass, differ from microbats, which range from 2 to 160 g, in their sensory and feeding ecology.

    Academic text (2008)
  • In the warm night air, the megabat swooped down to feast on ripe fruits hanging from the trees.

  • While hiking in the tropical forest, we spotted a megabat gracefully gliding between the branches.

  • The researchers studied the feeding habits of the megabat, noting how it prefers bananas and mangoes.

Synonyms

bat
vsmegabat
201 1.0

A small animal that flies at night and finds food by sound

is the more specific family label for large fruit eaters rather than all bats
fruit bat
vsmegabat
5 3.7

A large flying animal that lives in warm places and eats mostly fruit at night

is the scientific family term focusing on Old World members
flying fox
vsmegabat
  • Australian
1 8.2

A large bat that eats fruit and has a face like a fox and long wings

is the family term used more generally beyond that single genus
Megachiroptera
vsmegabat
  • Specialized
9.9

Large bats with big eyes that eat fruit and nectar

is the family term that names these large Old World fruit eaters
suborder Megachiroptera
vsmegabat
  • Archaic
9.3

A group of large fruit bats like flying foxes that live in tropical regions

is the family term naming a specific lineage within that broader group
Pteropus
vsmegabat
  • Specialized
9.9

A large fruit bat with a face like a fox that lives in tropical regions

is the family label including this genus among other related genera
Pteropus capestratus
vsmegabat
  • Specialized
9.9

A large fruit-eating bat from Southeast Asia that is active at night

is the family term covering many species rather than one
Cynopterus
vsmegabat
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of short-nosed fruit bats found in South and Southeast Asia

is the family term that includes many genera across the Old World tropics
Cynopterus sphinx
vsmegabat
  • Specialized
9.9

A bat that eats fruit and lives in South and Southeast Asia

is the family label encompassing many species rather than that single regional one
Nyctimene
vsmegabat
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of fruit bats from New Guinea and nearby islands with tube-shaped nostrils

is the family term that includes this genus and other fruit eating types
tube-nosed fruit bat
vsmegabat
  • Australian
9.5

A bat that eats fruit and has tube-shaped nostrils that point away from each other

is the broader family term covering many kinds without that single nose feature

How Big

megabat
  • Specialized
1 8.1
big-eared bat
  • Specialized
8.0
microbat
8.2

Surface Forms

megabat singular
megabats plural

Morphology

megabat = bat (transparent) = mega + bat

The word clearly combines the size prefix 'mega-' with 'bat' to mean a large bat.

Etymology

Megabat is made of mega- and bat, where mega- means 'large' as in megaphone and megabyte, and bat is the flying animal. So a megabat is a 'large bat', which fits the big fruit-eating bats often called flying foxes.