These giant carnivorous bats hug, cuddle — and even share dinner

Even for the world’s largest carnivorous bat, a hug is the best hello.

Spectral bats are far more cooperative than researchers long assumed, routinely greeting one another with wing wraps and even handing over captured prey to roostmates, researchers report August 20 in PLOS One. Analysis of over 500 videos challenges the notion that spectral bats (Vampyrum spectrum) forage exclusively in solitude.

“What surprised me most was that these apex predators are actually so gentle and curious,” says Marisa Tietge, a behavioral ecologist at Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. “Hugging seems to be their way of keeping family bonds strong.”