''Desmodus'' is a genus of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s which—along with the genera '' Diaemus'' and '' Diphylla''—are allied as the subfamily Desmodontinae, the carnivorous, blood-consuming vampire bats of the New World leaf-nosed bat family Phyllostomidae. The genus was erected in 1826 to accommodate a new species ''Desmodus rufus'' described by Maximilian Wied in the second volume of his work detailing his explorations in Brazil. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

was previously described with the name ''Phyllostoma rotundus'' by Étienne Geoffroy in 1810. * subfamilia Desmodontinae :* genus ''Desmodus'' ::* ''Desmodus archaeodaptes'', extinct, ::* '' Desmodus draculae'' – giant vampire bat, extinct, ::* '' Desmodus rotundus'' – common vampire bat, extant, :::* ''Desmodus rotundus puntajudensis'' ('' Desmodus puntajudensis'') - Cuban vampire bat, extinct, ::* '' Desmodus stocki'' – Stock's vampire bat, extinct.

References

Bat genera Taxa named by Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied Mammal genera with one living species Vampire bats {{leafnosed-bat-stub