VAMPIRE BATS

There is nothing supernatural about vampire bats! They are no demons nor ‘draculas’! They are mammals, just like us. Most people think that all bats are vampires. However, only three species of bats feed on blood. This represents only 0.3% of all extant bat species! And also contrary to the general belief, vampire bats do not occur in Transylvania (Romania). They are endemic to the New World, in the zoogeographic realm known as Neotropics, which extends from southern USA to northern Argentina.
   

There are three monotypic genera of vampires, and all of them belong to a particular subfamily, the Desmodontinae (family Phyllostomidae, leaf-nosed bats – Wetterer et al. 2000):

  • Desmodus rotundus - the common-vampire bat, which feeds mainly on blood of mammals, but attacks also birds.

  • Diaemus youngi - the hairy-legged vampire bat, which prefers to feed on birds.

  • Diphylla ecaudata - the white-winged vampire bat, a bird specialist.



Desmodus rotundus
 

 



Diaemus youngi

Vampire bats are fascinating animals, because they have very good cognitive abilities, a complex social structure and very accurate natural senses. Vampires are the most intelligent microchiropterans, and they have a very complex foraging behavior.

They have specific strategies that allow attacking a victim without waking it up, including razor-sharp incisors, an excellent ability to walk (using their feet and thumbs of the wings) and a special sense of temperature. This ‘thermal perception’ allows a vampire to feel which blood vessels of its victim are more superficial, in order to avoid making too deep painful bites.
Vampires attack only when the victim is heavily sleeping, normally late in the night.

Their usual preys are medium and big mammals, like cows, horses, capybaras, monkeys and dogs. Nevertheless, in some situations they attack also humans, especially in disturbed environments.

 
 

There is a big concern about vampires, because they are the main vectors of rabies in the wild. They can also transmit rabies to cattle, and cause economical losses. Despite this ‘dark side’, vampires are important in the environment and in the rabies natural cycle, and their control should be made only by well-trained and authorized personnel.

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Diphylla ecaudata

 

There some interesting references to leanr more about vampires

  • Bernard E. 2005. Morcegos vampiros: sangue, raiva e preconceito. Ciência Hoje 36(214): 44-49.

  • Greenhall AM, Joermann G, Schmidt U, Seidel M. 1983. Desmodus rotundus. Mammalian Species 202: 1-6.

  • Greenhall AM, Schmidt U (eds.). 1988. Natural History of Vampire Bats. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

  • Riskin DK, Hermanson JW. 2005. Biomechanics: independent evolution of running in vampire bats. Nature 434: 292-292.