Would you go up to bat against a lefty bat?
Left-handed athletes have established a reputation for being more difficult competition in sports, especially in baseball. And as the World Series nears, we’re curious how common lefties are. We have evolved as humans to be a right handed society, and we wonder if animals like bats have also evolved the same way. Which brings up the question, do bats use their right limbs predominantly as they hang from branches? Which would make left-limbed bats just as rare as left-handed baseball players.
As a part of the SIT Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology study abroad program in Australia this fall, we’ve sought to learn more about the fascinating species that are only found in the Wet Tropics area here. One key species is the spectacled flying fox, the largest member of the bat family. Out of 4 species of flying fox native to Australia, the spectacled flying fox is found in North-Eastern Queensland, and sometimes in New Guinea. They are large, black bats that are known for their distinct straw-coloured fur around their eyes. The spectacle flying foxes’ diet mostly consists of nectar and pollen that comes from eucalypt blossoms while hanging upside down from branches.
But how do bats hang for such long periods of time upside down? The secret is in their hind limb tendons, which are able to ‘lock’ in place to eliminate the need for muscle activity that would wear them out. Since the spectacled flying foxes are nocturnal, the majority of the day is spent hanging from branches in groups of tens to thousands called camps.
With this question in mind, we chose to survey which foot flying foxes dominantly hung from along Peterson Creek in Yungaburra at three different times within a two-day span. Taking turns lying on the rainforest floor, looking up at the branches filled with flying foxes through binoculars, we recorded the amount of time during the five-minute interval that each bat spent hanging from each foot. We also recorded when they hung from both feet. In total, our group recorded data on the preferences of 216 individual flying foxes.
In total, 23.4% of bats preferred their left limb. The results of the bat survey tell us that, like humans, bats prefer their right limb over their left. The chances of you coming across a left-limbed bat are about the same as stepping to the plate against a left-handed pitcher. In 2012, the MLB recorded 28.4% of pitchers threw left handed. So would you go up to bat against a lefty bat?
References:
Bennett, M. B. (1993). Structural modifications involved in the fore- and hind limb grip of some flying foxes (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae). Journal of Zoology, 229(2), 237–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02633.x
Chu, C., Chang, T., & Chu, J. (2016). Opposite Hand Advantage and the Overrepresentation of Left.. Handed Players in Major League Baseball.
Spectacled Flying-fox. (2024, February 7). The Australian Museum. https://australian.museum/learn/animals/bats/spectacled-flying-fox/
Written by:
Mollie Kroll, Ellie Christensen and Olivia Becker. The article was part of a class assignment where the students conducted field research on flying foxes. Program: SIT Australia Fall 2025 – Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology. Course: Environmental Field Study Seminar.