Category: Mammals
These medium sized mammals are native to North America and are known for their intelligence, facial mask, and dexterous paws. Their dark mask is thought to reduce glare and improve their night vision. Their most important sense is the sense of touch - almost two-thirds of the area responsible for sensory perception in the raccoon's cerebral cortex is specialized for interpreting tactile sensations.
Bats: The Only True-Flying Mammal
Bats, the only mammal capable of true flight, are not blind - their eyes are just fine, thank you very much. But instead of eyes, most bats rely on an incredibly fine-tuned sense of hearing when they fly and hunt. Using a technique called echolocation, they emit high-pitched calls (usually above the range of human hearing), using the echos that are reflected back to them as a means of navigation and locating objects. The ears, auditory cortex, and (in a few cases) even noses of some bats are extraordinarily specialized for echolocation; there are even bats that have adapted the frequency of their calls to frequencies above or below what their favorite prey can hear!
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Discover Animals is a web-based educational resource offered by the NAIA
