People stunned to learn viral photo of giant 'megabat' is actually real

A photograph of a "human-sized" bat is once again doing the rounds on social media - and people can't actually believe the image is genuine.

Yes, the Internet may be great for staying in touch with friends and watching videos of dogs, but sometimes it can teach you some amazing facts you didn't know yesterday. And the weirder the facts, the more interested I am.

And today we're looking at a creature that literally looks like it has been pulled straight from the Marvel Cinematic Universe: The giant golden-crowned flying fox.

Photos of the flying beast were circulated on X (formerly Twitter) back in 2020 by user @AlexJoestar622, who tweeted: "Remember when I told y'all about the Philippines having human-sized bats? Yeah, this was what I was talking about."

The post soon went viral, and to this day, has amassed more than 59,000 retweets and over 226,000 likes. And despite looking photoshopped, people have been surprised to learn that the pictures are 100% genuine.

Fact-checking experts Snopes investigated the image, and found that the photo "truly depicts an animal that exists in the real world" - although the publication adds that it was unable to "positively identify the species of bat shown".

These bats have a wingspan of around 5ft4"! Credit: Imagevixen / Getty

That being said, netizens believe the creature is most likely a giant golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus), which is sadly endangered because of habitat destruction and poaching, per Science Alert.

However, Snopes does mention that there's also a chance that it could be another species of megabat, known as the Large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus).

Both species are known as "megabats" ... for obvious reasons.

Either way, this picture is real -- which means there really are bats out there that are bigger than my baby.

And yes, I say 'baby' because although the viral picture appears to show a bat the size of a fully grown human, the bodies of a giant golden-crowned flying fox only grow to be around one foot (12") in length, per ATI.

So there is some forced perspective to take into account (kinda like how Disney makes Cinderella Castle look bigger than it actually is.)

However, their wingspans are absolutely huge - measuring a whopping 5 feet 6 inches, per Bat Conservation International - which is certainly bigger than a lot of adults.

New fear unlocked. Credit: David Gray / Getty

The golden-crowned flying fox is most commonly found in the Philippines and tends to avoid humans where possible. What's more, it can often be found in undisturbed native forests and tends to roost on very steep "hard-to-access" slopes.

Bat Conservation International adds that the golden-crowned flying fox also enjoys roosting with the other megabat I mentioned earlier, the large flying fox. (Which makes them the most terrifying neighbors you'll ever encounter.)

The large flying fox has an equally large body, growing to about 11-13 inches, per iNaturalist. However, it's average wingspan is slightly smaller, measuring around 4 feet 11 inches.

One commenter replied to the original tweet, writing, "Heya, from the Philippines here. I can confirm this, they have a huuuuuge wingspan but the bodies are not really that big, more or less like the same body as a medium (bit smaller) sized dog. And yeah they only eat fruits, guavas most particularly. They're really gentle too."

A second added: "This is normal in the Philippines, Australia, and several Asian countries. There is nothing to be afraid of. They are very innocent, and are related to deer and horses. They have a vegetarian diet. If it wasn't for them, there would be no seeds dispersed to plant fruit trees."

Another X user wrote, "The idea scared me at first, but now that I think about it I'd probably have a fruit basket ready for them just in case."

Featured image credit: David Gray / Getty