How many types of bats are there?

There are over 1,000 species of bats and two suborders. The first is made up of the fruit bats, also known as flying foxes. The second suborder are the microchiroptera.

As their name suggests, flying foxes are bats with fox-like faces and large eyes. They live in the Old World. The microchiroptera are relatively small bats that find their food through echolocation. They live all over the world, except for Antarctica and the Arctic.

Most microchiroptera bats eat insects, while most fruit bats eat fruit or pollen. At least one species of bat eats fish. Another species, the notorious vampire bat, feeds on blood.