Wildlife Creatures |
Vampire Bat | Vampire bats
are bats whose food source is blood, a dietary trait called hematophagy.
Three bat species feed solely on blood: the common vampire bat
(Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata),
and the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi). All three species are
native to America, ranging from Mexico to Brazil, Chile, and Argentina.
Due to differences among the three species, each has been placed within
a different genus, each consisting of one species. In the older
literature, these three genera were placed within a family of their own,
Desmodontidae.
Because the three known species of
vampire bats all seem more similar to one another than to any other
species suggests that sanguivorous habits (feeding on blood) evolved
only once, and the three species may share a common ancestor.Unlike
fruit-eating bats, the vampire bat has a short, conical muzzle. It also
lacks a nose leaf, instead having naked pads with U-shaped grooves at
the tip. The common vampire bat also has specialized thermoreceptors on
its nose, which aid the animal in locating areas where the blood flows
close to the skin of its prey.
Wildlife Creatures | Vampire Bat | Vampire bats
are bats whose food source is blood, a dietary trait called hematophagy.
Three bat species feed solely on blood: the common vampire bat
(Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata),
and the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi). All three species are
native to America, ranging from Mexico to Brazil, Chile, and Argentina.
Due to differences among the three species, each has been placed within
a different genus, each consisting of one species. In the older
literature, these three genera were placed within a family of their own,
Desmodontidae.
Because the three known species of
vampire bats all seem more similar to one another than to any other
species suggests that sanguivorous habits (feeding on blood) evolved
only once, and the three species may share a common ancestor.Unlike
fruit-eating bats, the vampire bat has a short, conical muzzle. It also
lacks a nose leaf, instead having naked pads with U-shaped grooves at
the tip. The common vampire bat also has specialized thermoreceptors on
its nose, which aid the animal in locating areas where the blood flows
close to the skin of its prey.
0 comments:
Post a Comment