Bats : Why Do Bats Hang Upside Down?

Bats hang upside down because their feet have evolved to be in the clamped position when all muscles are relaxed, so hanging from their feet uses no bodily energy at all. Find out why bats hang instead of stand on branches with helpful information from an associate professor of biology in this free video on bats.

Expert: Dr. Christine Portfors
Contact: www.vancouver.wsu.edu/programs/sci/portfors.htm
Bio: Dr. Christine Portfors is an assistant professor of biology at Washington State University Vancouver.
Filmmaker: Lisa Fenderson

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[silverpslm]

They hang upside down so they can look down on us inferior creatures. I"M BATMAN!

[foot0fete]

Boobs!

[Mrdubstep69]

look at their hands.. i guess thats why :P

[wolfstriked]

If I was a bat and lived in caves I would prefer high places so I am not standing in bat guano all day.They most likely evolved to hanging upside down since there are no branches in a cave.

[Philiptan100]

they look like crazy pigs with silly noses

[oscarsin3333]

I believe this must be something related to natural selection.

There must be some advantage for hanging like this.

[korvette21]

Doesn't have to be a 'why' for them to hang upside down. Perhaps their non-bat ancestors experienced a selective pressure to hang upside down. Now that they've been doing it for so many generations, there's no selective pressure to make them not hang upside down.

[Batboxgriffin]

Less work for the heart, during hibernation, to keep blood circulating around the brain? It is too easy to extract one feature of morphology in isolation and apply cause and effect principles forgetting that ,if you believe in evolution, everything developed in unison. Maybe it is the question that is wrong?