Vampire bat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Vampire bat |
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| Common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Phyllostomidae |
| Subfamily: | Desmodontinae Bonaparte, 1845 |
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Vampire bats is a subfamily of bats. Unlike other bats, vampire bats feed on blood. Currently, there are three species of bats known to do this. Of the three known species, one feeds on the blood of mammals, the other two on the blood of birds.
The common vampire bat lives in large groups, of up to 100 animals. They have developed complex social behaviour.
Vampire bats commonly spread diseases, most notably rabies. The saliva of the vampire bats contain chemicals that prevent the clotting of the blood of the victim; this has been used to develop drugs to help the patients of strokes and heart attacks.
The false vampire bats are not vampire bats; they do not feed on blood, some eat fruits, others devour small animals.
Vampires may be modelled on bats.
Contents
Habitat
Vampire bats tend to live in colonies in almost completely dark places, such as caves, old wells, hollow trees, and buildings. All of them live in the Americas, in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina and live in arid to humid, tropical and subtropical areas. Vampire bat colony numbers can range from single digits to hundreds in roosting sites.
Scientific studies
Vampire bats were some of the first animals studied using the broadly applicable tracking system, or BATS. Scientists glued very small backpacks with sensors onto vampire bats and used GPS to tell when they looked for food, rested, or met each other. The study, which was printed for people to read on October 31, 2019 (Halloween), said that vampire bats formed social bonds when being held by humans that they remembered after being released back into the wild.
Images for kids
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A vampire bat skeleton, showing the distinctive incisors and canines
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A vampire bat feeding on a pig (taxidermy specimens)
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Common vampire bat at the Louisville Zoo
See also
In Spanish: Desmodontinae para niños
