Bats are amazing creatures. With a total of 1,400 species, these animals vary from extremely cute to utterly horrifying and can be found in pretty much everywhere on the planet. Recently, people on the internet were creeped out by one special bat that can be simply characterized as being freaking gigantic. It’s called a giant golden-crowned flying fox, and out of 150 species of megabats, it’s by far the biggest one. Unsurprisingly, after a photo of this large flying fox went viral, it became nightmare ammunition for many squeamish people.
As it turns out, the photo is real and shows an animal called a giant golden-crowned flying fox
Image credits: AlexJoestar622
However, many people immediately called the photo fake. While it’s smart to not believe everything you see on internet, hardworking fact-checkers at Snopes confirmed it is actually real.
After another photo of the same bat emerged, it became clear how it looks in reality
Though, it may not be completely accurate. After another photo taken from a different angle appeared, it became clear that the original one is affected by the forced perspective, thus making the bat look larger than it actually is.
Despite not being human-sized, flying foxes are the world’s biggest bats
Image credits: OZinOH
So, no, these bats not human-sized. In fact, the body of a bat is smaller than the average human baby, but the wings are huge. Flying foxes have a wingspan of 5 feet (1.5 meters) and their bodies are 11 to 13 in (27 to 32 cm) in length.
Nevertheless, these bats are majestic. Large flying foxes are native to Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Timor-Leste, and Thailand. The viral one in the picture was captured in the Philippines.
Flying foxes have a wingspan of 5 feet (1.5 meters) and their bodies are 11 to 13 in (27 to 32 cm) in length
Image credits: tolgabathospital
While some people jokingly (or not) expressed fear of them eating humans, due to their massive size, these megabats are herbivores.