Hairy-legged Vampire Bat
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| Hairy-legged Vampire Bat | ||||||||||||||||
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| Diphylla ecaudata Spix, 1823 |
The Hairy-legged Vampire Bat (Diphylla ecaudata) is one of three species of vampire bat. Despite connotations of vampires, it mainly feeds on the blood of birds. This vampire bat lives mainly in tropical and subtropical forestlands of South America. It is the sole member of the genus Diphylla.
It generally rests during the daylight with less than twelve other bats in a cave, although a cave was once found with 35 bats. It also shares its food via regurgitation, mouth to mouth.[1]
It also has good sight, but poor echolocation.[citation needed] It is often found in caves with the Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus), but it is a solitary bat and does not form groups like Desmodus. There are no lingual grooves under the tongue as in Desmodus and Diaemus but it does have a groove along the roof of the mouth which may serve as a "blood gutter".[2]
As with all mammals, it can be a carrier of rabies.
[edit] Subspecies
There are two recognized subspecies
- Diphylla ecaudata centralis is found from western Panama to Mexico.
- Diphylla ecaudata ecaudata is found from Brazil and eastern Peru to eastern Panama.
[edit] References
- ^ Elizalde-Arellano C, López-Vidal JC, Arroyo-Cabrales J, Medellín RA, Laundré JW. 2006. Food sharing behavior in the hairy-legged vampire bat Diphylla ecaudata. Acta Chiropterologica. 8:314-319.
- ^ A.M. Greenhall and U. Schmidt, editors. 1988. Natural History of Vampire Bats, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. ISBN 0849367506; ISBN 978-0849367502, pp. 125-128.
- Chiroptera Specialist Group (1996). Diphylla ecaudata. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
2: Elizalde-Arellano C, López-Vidal JC, Arroyo-Cabrales J, Medellín RA, Laundré JW. 2006. Food sharing behavior in the hairy-legged vampire bat Diphylla ecaudata. Acta Chiropterologica. 8:314-319.
- Greenhall, Arthur M. 1961. Bats in Agriculture. A Ministry of Agriculture Publication. Trinidad and Tobago.
- A.M. Greenhall and U. Schmidt, editors. 1988. Natural History of Vampire Bats, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. ISBN 0849367506; ISBN 978-0849367502
