Did you know? The bones of a bat's legs are so thin, they would shatter if they walk

According to the website, Animal Fact, bats are the only mammals that can fly and they are extremely specialised for this skill. Their bodies have an aerodynamic shape, their bones are light, and their wings are thin, flexible, and hypersensitive. In fact, their wings have almost two dozen joints and are covered with Merkel cells, which are the touch-sensitive cells found on our fingertips.

Unfortunately, most bats’ rear legs are more or less useless for anything except hanging. They are very thin and weak with fragile bones. Their knees also face backwards. If a bat ends up on the ground, he’ll use his front limbs to clumsily drag his body while keeping pressure off the back legs.

However, out of the over 1,200 species of bat, there are two species that can actually walk – the vampire bat and the burrowing bat. In fact, a laboratory study using treadmills showed that vampire bats can even sprint on all fours.

The burrowing bat has adaptations conducive to walking – claws at the base of their toes, grooves on their feet, and elbow joints that bend sideways and allow them to use their wrists to push off. Burrowing bats take advantage of these traits to forage for food on the ground as well as in the air.

Source: Animal Fact