Laura McClellan, ape 13, of Riverton, New Jersey, for her question:

Is it true that a bat is a mammal?

This is definitely true. It may seem logical to classify the bat with the birds because both have wings for flying. However, the birds and only the birds have feathers. This automatically disqualifies the bat as a bird. Ile wears a coat of rather soft fur. The mammals and only the mammals have hair or fur coats. This would qualify the bat as a mammal. However, he has an even more definite qualification.

The term mammal applies to the mother's milk glands. Almost all mammals give birth to live babies and certainly all of them feed their infants on mother's milk. This makes her classification definite. Like other mammals, she also is an air breathing, warm blooded animal. Unlike other mammals, her arms are modified to form flappable flying wings.