Good afternoon, goblins and ghosties,

Who has two thumbs and is a Halloween darling? Not this fellow! (At least, the first part.)

Meet the smoky bat (Amorphochilus schnablii), a tiny, rare insect-eating bat found in western South America. It’s one of two members of the family Furipteridae, categorized by…drumroll…lacking thumbs.

This article by Bat Conservation International calls them ‘flying furballs’ and I couldn’t agree more.

I found this, btw, on the page of this photographer who does portraits of bats. Super cute! Like, way cuter than I expected! And strange, in a good way - a lot of them are like if orchids were mammals with fur.

Some cool pixel art with fall vibes by anasabdin:

Til tomorrow,
Laura

October 7, 2026