In the Spring, Bat Moms Choose Girls

Inkfish
By Elizabeth Preston
May 11, 2012 11:41 PMNov 5, 2019 12:20 AM

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Naturally a mother bat is happy to welcome into the world a bouncing baby whatever, as long as it has all its fingers and toe-claws. But she also wants her little one to have every advantage she can give it. So when spring comes early, big brown bats prefer to keep their female embryos. Unwanted males are reabsorbed into their mothers' bodies as if they never existed.

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