What likes it in the dark, flies without feathers and accounts for about 1/5 of all mammal species?

You probably already guessed – Bats. There are 966 species of bats (order Chiroptera). The only mammal order that outnumbers bats is rats, well actually rodents, at 1,700 different species. While not the most numerous they are found nearly everywhere except the poles and a few islands.

Vampires

The biggest misconception about bats is that they are all vampires. There are actually only three species of vampire bats. Vampire bats are quite small, about the size of a small apple. They feed by making small cuts on their prey while they sleep and lapping up the blood. They only consume about 30ml (one fluid ounce) a night. Their prey generally consists of tapirs, pigs, birds, cattle, horses and goats – not people.

Vampire bats belong to a suborder of bats called Microchiroptera or microbats. Other Microbats eat insects, small mammals, and fish. There is one other suborder of bats called Megachiroptera or megabats. Megabats generally dine on fruit, nectar or pollen but a few will eat insects also.