In light of the (continued) bad rep that #bats are receiving due to #Covid_19, I think it's of critical importance to remind ourselves why bats are necessary parts of a healthy ecosystem, and how they benefit humans directly. A thread 👇👇 1. Let's start by recognizing that, among all mammals, bats are 2nd only to rodents in species richness. There are > 1,300 species of bats recognized currently. This comprises almost 1/5 of the world's mammal species, with >175 genera arranged in 20 families. So, lots of bats.