Question

Bats is a mammal because
A. Bats have wings like birds
B. Bats have tails like other mammals
C. Bats have milk-secreting gland
D. Bat is a cold blooded animal

Answer 1

Hint: Bat is the only mammal that even flies but it is considered to be mammal because of the characteristic feature which is exhibited only by the mammals. They have organs which help in nurturing their babies.

Complete answer:
The correct answer is (C).
Bat is placed in the phylum Mammalia because of the presence of the milk secreting glands called mammary glands which are found only in the mammals.
Some other reasons due to which bat are placed in the Mammalia class are:
- They have the capability to give birth to live young one and thus are called as viviparous organisms whereas birds are oviparous that is they lay eggs which on hatching (process of providing warmth to the egg by sitting on it) produces young ones.
- The young ones survive by sucking the milk secreted from the mammary glands through nipples. The mammary glands are present in the chest region and they are the exocrine gland (that is they have ducts to transport their secretions), which produces milk necessary for nourishing the neonate (newly formed).
- They are warm blooded animals i.e., they have the ability to regulate their body temperature called homeostasis.

The taxonomic classification of the bat is:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera

Note: As the birds have feathers and wings, but they cannot be considered to be a bird and cannot be placed in the Phylum Aves because some features exhibited by them are of the Mammalia division. Before placing any organism into a division, all the features are studied and then it is placed into the most suitable division.