Curious Facts / Nature
Are there fingers inside a bat’s wing?
Look beyond the wing’s outline to the bones supporting it.
Long finger bones support the wing
Picture spreading your own fingers. In a bat, long finger bones are linked by broad, flexible skin membrane. The bones support the membrane, while movement of the fingers and joints helps change the wing’s shape.
The wing is more than a thin sheet attached to the body. Its supporting bones reveal how it is connected to the forelimb.
Moving through the air does not always mean the same thing
Bats can use wing movements for powered flight. Flying squirrels, by contrast, spread their bodies to glide through the air. Both travel through the air, but powered bat flight and flying-squirrel gliding are different.
Having a wing-like membrane is not enough to make two animals’ flight mechanisms identical. Consider which body parts support the membrane and how they move.
What did you discover?
2 questions · Read the explanation and evidence, then continue to the next question.
Sources and scope
- U.S. National Park Service — How Bats Fly
Bat Wing Anatomy: skin membrane, long finger bones, powered flight versus gliding
- Bat Conservation International — Five Cool Things About Bat Flight
The Power of Jazz Hands: four long fingers, thumb and flexible wing membrane
Scope of this fact
- This explains the basic relationship between the forelimb and wing membrane, not exact anatomy or performance in every species.
- Gliding is distinguished from powered flight. No handling or fieldwork instructions are included.
Original writing and English translation by Rantap