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The Secret Life of the Only Flying Mammal
by Yossi Yovel
An awe-inspiring tour of bat world by the world's leading expert.
With nearly 1500 species, bats account for more than twenty percent of mammalian species. The most successful and most diverse group of mammals, bats come in different sizes, shapes, and colors, from the tiny bumblebee bat to the giant golden-crowned flying fox. Some bats eat fruit and nectar; others eat frogs, scorpions, or fish. Vampire bats feed on blood. Bats are the only mammals that can fly; their fingers have elongated through evolution to become wings with a unique, super-flexible skin membrane stretched between them. Their robust immune system is one of the reasons for their extreme longevity. A tiny bat can live for forty years.
Yossi Yovel, an ecologist and a neurobiologist, is passionate about deciphering the secrets of bats, including using AI to decipher their communication. In The Genius Bat, he brings to vivid life these amazing creatures as well as the obsessive and sometimes eccentric people who study them–bat scientists. From muddy rainforests to star-covered night deserts, from guest houses in Thailand to museum drawers full of fossils in New York, this is an eye-opening and entertaining account of a mighty mammal.
What are you reading this week? (7/17/2025)
I am reading the most wonderful galley called "The Genius Bat." It's nonfiction and the author makes you feel as if you're there with him and his various research partners. Lots of great info about echolocation. Yes, bats do it but other animals do as well. I'm about 60% through right now and wil...
-Kathryn_H
"Yovel's passion and curiosity will leave readers with a greater appreciation for the wonders and mysteries of the bat world. This is a revelation." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"In this dynamic and informative account of the genius of bats, Yovel's passion for and knowledge of the topic are inspiring and evident throughout." —Booklist
"Yovel's enthusiasm for these little creatures is infectious." —Library Journal
"You will never think of bats (or zoologists) in the same way. The book is a masterpiece of story-telling." ―Ron Milo, Weizmann Institute, author of Biology by the Numbers
"In this excellent book, Yovel draws you into the lives of bats. He provides many astonishing details of what bats do and why." ―Brock Fenton, Emeritus Professor, Western University, Ontario, author of A Miscellany of Bats
This information about The Genius Bat was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Yossi Yovel is an ecologist and a neurobiologist – a rare combination of disciplines. A professor at Tel-Aviv University and the head of the School of Neuroscience, he has conducted research all around the world, using an arsenal of methods and equipment. His work has been covered by major media outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Economist, NPR, BBC, and National Geographic. A sought-after public speaker, he is currently a visiting scholar at McGill University in Montreal.
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