WTF, Did You Know That Bats The Size Of A Small Child Exist?
Don't freak out.
By Tamara Jayne
A photo of a bat said to be the "size of a human" has recently taken the Internet by storm
On 24 June, Twitter user @AlexJoestar622 shared a screenshot of an earlier post:
"Remember when I told y'all about the Philippines having human-sized bats? Yeah, this was what I was talking about."
The photo, which has since been retweeted over 105,000 times, spooked out many while others joked that they'd make great housemates
Before you start freaking out though, here are some things to know about these seemingly large creatures:
1. The bat in the photo is said to actually be the size of a small dog or a six-year-old child, not an average human
The image was originally posted in 2018 on Reddit and on Taiwan News.
Photos of these bats are often taken from a distance or at a certain angle and do not show their actual size.
Some people explained that its 'human-size' is around 5.58ft (1.7 metres), and it is calculated based on its wingspan, not its height.
2. Although it's unclear which species the one in the photo belongs to, several claims say that it's called the giant golden-crowned flying fox
However, other users beg to differ saying that the bat in the photo does not have the "distinct yellow shade" on its body that giant golden-crowned flying foxes usually have.
Regardless of which species it is, fact-checking website Snopes explains that the bat in the image is probably a fruit bat or Old World fruit bat, also known as a large flying fox.
Either way, this type of megabat does exist and the photo is not fake.
3. Don't worry, they won't eat you. Megabats are harmless and feed on plants and fruits.
They can usually be found in tropical areas where there are plenty of different fruits, nectar, and pollen to munch on.
The giant golden-crowned flying fox in particular is a type of megabat native to the Philippines.
They are one of the largest and rarest bats in the world and are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
