Fruit bats hanging on tree branches in daylight in Bangladesh on November 6, 2023. Md Rafayat Haque Khan/Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 ...

In Malappuram, Kerala, a 14-year-old boy succumbed to the Nipah virus after consuming contaminated hog plum fruit. Fruit bats are the primary carriers, spreading the virus via their excretions.

Fruit-eating bats are vital to tropical reforestation due to their ability to disperse seeds to degraded areas. A new study published in mongabay.org’s open-access journal Tropical Conservation ...