The Vampire Bat

The Vampire Bat is a small species of Bat, native to the tropics of Central and South America. There are three recognised sub-species of Vampire Bat, all of which are in a genus of their own despite their obvious similarities. The Common Vampire Bat, the Hairy-Legged Vampire Batand the White-Winged Vampire Bat are all closely related and share the same unique feeding habits, as they are the only known mammals that feed entirely on blood. Over time, Vampire Bats have perfectly adapted to the consumption of their only food source, with a leaf-like heat sensor on the end of their nose which detects where the warm blood is flowing closest to the skin. The Vampire Bat is quite a small animal, with it's body rarely growing larger than the size of a human thumb. It's wings are long, finger-like bones that are covered in a thin layer of skin, with a thumb claw that pokes out of the front and is used for grip when clambering about on their host. Vampire Bats have dark brown to grey furry bodies with a lighter underside, and strong limbs which enable them to crawl about on the ground with ease. As with other Bats, Vampire Bats use echolocation in order to determine their surroundings. When flying, they produce high-pitched sounds that bounce of the objects in the area, and it is this bounced-back sound that allows the Bat to figure out where things are around them (it is so high-pitched that it cannot be heard by people).

The Vampire Bat is found throughout the South American continent from Mexico to the tip of Argentina. Vampire Bats are found in both tropical and subtropical regions and can adapt to living in both humid and dry climates. Many Bats are nocturnal and the Vampire Bat is no exception, spending the daylight hours roosting in hollow trees, caves, mines and even derelict buildings in colonies that can be more than 1,000 strong. Although other Batspecies are known to nest in the same places as the Vampire Bats, it is thought that the separate species tend to keep their distance from one another to avoid conflict.

Vampire Bats mate all year round and are known to have a fairly 

long gestation period in comparison to other species of small tropical Bat. After between 3 and 4 months, the female Vampire Bat gives birth to a single baby which she cares for until it is weaned at between 3 and 5 months of age (those bat babies born in captivity are weaned noticeably later, when they are 9 months old). As with other mammals, the young vampire bats feed on their mother's milk until they are old enough to consume an adult diet, and will not reach their full adult weight for roughly a year. Female Vampire Bats do appear to be very caring mothers, known to care for and adopt young orphans in the colony. Vampire Batscan live for up to 12 years in the wild, although captive individuals have been known to nearly reach the age of 20.

All three subspecies of Vampire Bat have been listed as being of Least Concern of becoming extinct in the wild in the immediate future, due to the fact that they are widespread and feed on a variety of warm-blooded animals. Deforestation of their natural habitats along with persistent Human efforts to eradicate who colonies at a time however, have led to population declines in certain areas. Scientists have also discovered though that the anti-coagulant found in the Bat's saliva, proves to more effective at preventing blood clotting than any medicine, meaning that this could have significant positive implications for patients with strokes or heart attacks.