From a bioengineering perspective, both bats & birds appear to have been optimized for their body structure & lifestyle, with birds focused on low-energy, long-distance travel while bats are more efficient aerial acrobats and hunters over short distance.
Their motions might seem erratic and graceless, but bats are more efficient fliers than birds, thanks to an airlift mechanism that is unique among aerial creatures, new wind-tunnel tests show.
