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Common vampire bat - DESMODUS ROTUNDUS
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Bat": "Bat" comes from Old Norse "ledhrblaka," "leather flapper." It became "bakka" and then "bat." "Vampire" comes from Magyar "vampir," meaning "witch."
Description: A medium-sized, dark gray-brown bat with short, blunt muzzle; small, rounded protuberance in place of a noseleaf; deep groove in lower lip; short ears with pointed tragus (ear flap); long, strong thumb with short, curved claw; no tail. Length of head and body about 3", forearm 2.4"; weight 0.6-1.5 oz.
Location: Mexico to Chile and northern Argentina in South America.
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical forests; temperate scrub and woodlands; cactus deserts.
Behavior: Cave-dwelling common vampires roost in colonies of up to 1000, but usually about 100. They feed on blood, mainly of cattle and other livestock, often attacking the same animal night after night. Humans are seldom bitten. The bats' large, razor-sharp upper incisors cut a small wound from which the blood is lapped through a "drinking straw" formed by grooves under the bats' tongues and in their lower lips. Vampires transmit paralytic rabies and other livestock infections.
Reproduction: Common vampire bats breed throughout the year, bearing a single young after an 8-month pregnancy. The 2 other species of vampire bats are Diaemus youngi in eastern Mexico to Brazil, and the hairy-legged vampire (Diphyffa ecaudata), known from Val Verde County, Texas, to southern Brazil.
Go to the Bats Page to get a general discussion of this flying mammal.
Go to the Bats Index to study the other bats included in America Zoo.
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