Scientific Name: Desmodusrotundus

Habitat: Lowland and mid-elevation habitats. Roosts in caves, wells, mine shafts, hollow trees, and abandoned buildings (Gardner, 221).

Diet: Sanguinivorous/Hematophagous Call Type: Passive echolocation

Interesting Facts: Vampire bats do not live in the wild in the US – they are only found in zoos. -Since vampire bats have to drink as much as their own weight in blood every day, a human vampire like Dracula would have to drink the blood of a whole table full of guests every night just to keep going.

-Vampire bats are the only mammals in the world that live entirely on blood -Scientist have been able to use the anticoagulation agent in vampire bat spit to treat human stroke victims and human heart patient victims -Vampire bats are the only bats that move well on the ground -Vampire bats do not actually ‚suck‛ blood. Instead, they typically ‚lap‛ up two teaspoons of blood a night with their tongues. The blood moves through the bat’s mouth in two channels under its tongue. Its body uses only red blood cells, and within two minutes of starting to eat, the bat’s body rids itself of blood plasma in the form of urine. http://facts.randomhistory.com/bat-facts.html

vampiremap

Range: Every country in South America. Elsewhere, throughout Central America and most of Mexico (Gardner, 219)

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