Birds, Bats, and Blooms : The University of Arizona Press : 9780816553723 : 0816553726 : 19 Nov 2024 : Like gems flitting through the sky, hummingbirds attract our eye. But they are more than flash: they are critical pollinators in their ecosystems. Similarly in the darkness of night, nectar-feeding bats perform the same important ecological service as their colorful avian counterparts. Vertebrate pollinators like bats and birds are keynote species of the Sonoran Desert. Biologist Theodore H. Fleming uses these species-found in the desert around his home-to address two big questions dealing with the evolution of life on Earth: How did these animals evolve, and how did they coevolve with their food plants? A deeply thoughtful and researched dive into evolutionary history, Birds, Bats, and Blooms offers an engaging trip across evolutionary trajectories as it discusses nectar-feeding birds and bats and their coevolution as pollinators with flowering plants. The primary focus is on New W