Illustration of fruit bat
- fruit bat with fruit
fruit bat
noun
: any of a family (Pteropodidae of the suborder Megachiroptera) of often large tropical and subtropical Old World bats that feed on ripe fruit, pollen, and nectar and that usually use visual navigation rather than echolocation
called also flying fox
Examples of fruit bat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Some of our fruit bat findings may be unrelated to metabolism or are specific only to Jamaican fruit bats.
—
Wei Gordon, Discover Magazine, 12 Jan. 2024
Regarding the Egyptian fruit bats at the exhibit, Becket noted their great sense of smell, one of the biggest brain-to-body-weight ratios of any other breed, and their large eyes that enable them to see in low light and echolocation, which is unusual for a fruit-eating bat.
—Olivia Deng, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Sep. 2023
It was first identified in pigs in Malaysia and Singapore in the late 1980s, though its natural reservoir is fruit bats.
—Erin Prater, Fortune Well, 12 Jan. 2024
However, unlike humans, fruit bats thrive on a sugar-rich diet.
—Wei Gordon, Discover Magazine, 12 Jan. 2024
But no direct test had ever been performed in a highly social setting, such as in a fruit bat colony.
—Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023
Earlier this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed 21 species from the U.S. Endangered Species Act due to extinction, including a fruit bat, two types of fish, eight types of mussels and 10 birds.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2023
Cruise the Ord River, eyeing fruit bats, short-eared rock wallabies and freshwater crocodiles.
—Janice Wald Henderson, Travel + Leisure, 17 Nov. 2023
Included in the group of animals now declared extinct are the Little Mariana fruit bat, also known as a flying fox, in Guam; two species of fish, including the San Marcos gambusia in Texas and Scioto madtom in Ohio, and eight species of mussels.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2023
Wei Gordon, Discover Magazine, 12 Jan. 2024
Regarding the Egyptian fruit bats at the exhibit, Becket noted their great sense of smell, one of the biggest brain-to-body-weight ratios of any other breed, and their large eyes that enable them to see in low light and echolocation, which is unusual for a fruit-eating bat.
—Olivia Deng, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Sep. 2023
It was first identified in pigs in Malaysia and Singapore in the late 1980s, though its natural reservoir is fruit bats.
—Erin Prater, Fortune Well, 12 Jan. 2024
However, unlike humans, fruit bats thrive on a sugar-rich diet.
—Wei Gordon, Discover Magazine, 12 Jan. 2024
But no direct test had ever been performed in a highly social setting, such as in a fruit bat colony.
—Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023
Earlier this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed 21 species from the U.S. Endangered Species Act due to extinction, including a fruit bat, two types of fish, eight types of mussels and 10 birds.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2023
Cruise the Ord River, eyeing fruit bats, short-eared rock wallabies and freshwater crocodiles.
—Janice Wald Henderson, Travel + Leisure, 17 Nov. 2023
Included in the group of animals now declared extinct are the Little Mariana fruit bat, also known as a flying fox, in Guam; two species of fish, including the San Marcos gambusia in Texas and Scioto madtom in Ohio, and eight species of mussels.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fruit bat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Fruit bat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fruit%20bat. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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