Bats Share Adorable Traits With Dogs, Cats, And Even Humans, Study Reveals

Head waggling and ear wiggling — dog and cat persons are certainly familiar with these acts that their "furry babies" do. Known to many, these are indications that dogs and cats are listening to what their pet parents say or are focusing on a target. But what a lot of people don't know is that bats actually do the same thing. This was discovered by Melville Wohlgemuth of Johns Hopkins as he observed certain animals.

Wohlgemuth is a neuroscientist who have mastered how his pug responds when he talks. He would see his dog tilt its head, one thing he likewise saw in his bats. Upon investigating, he found that when bats are eyeing on a prey, they cock their heads to the side. Moreover, he found that their heads' movements are synched with their vocalization and are useful in localizing their target. He added that bats are experts at auditory localization.

Meanwhile, the same thing goes for humans. If something from your right approaches, the sound is louder to your right ear. According to The Huffington Post, it was found that moving the head accentuates acoustic cues that would be helpful in identifying the source of a sound. So as we know, humans likewise do some head tilting whenever a certain sound needs to be heard mire clearly.

From the information above, we can say that humans, dogs, cats, and bats share some things in common, particularly some adorable behaviors. But why do we not look at them the way we look at our pets? According to The Washington Post, different factors affect how humans feel about animals; and one of those factors is culture. For instance, dogs may be a popular pet in Western countries, but are considered unclean vermin in some Asian countries. Moreover, people who grew up with dogs are most likely to love them. And because bats have not been a popular pet, not a lot of people love them; not to mention the image established for them.

Bats are usually associated with negative stuff like vampires, witchcraft, and black magic. But with Wohlgemuth's discovery, things might actually change. It's definitely a surprise that these flying mammals can be just as adorable as the popular domesticated animals like dogs and cats.