The hairy-legged vampire bat (''Diphylla ecaudata'') is one of three extant species of

vampire bat Vampire bats, members of the subfamily Desmodontinae, are Phyllostomidae, leaf-nosed bats currently found in Central and South America. Their food source is the blood of other animals, a dietary trait called hematophagy. Three extant bat species ...

s. It mainly feeds on the

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

of wild

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

, but can also feed both on domestic birds and humans. This vampire bat lives mainly in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

forestlands of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, and southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is the sole member of the genus ''Diphylla''.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was described by German biologist

Johann Baptist von Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German natural history, biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. ...

in 1823. Spix first encountered the species in Brazil. Spix coined the genus name ''Diphylla'' () and the

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''ecaudata'' (). The two recognized subspecies are: *''Diphylla ecaudata centralis'' is found from western

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. A single specimen was taken in an abandoned railroad tunnel near Comstock, Val Verde County, Texas, in 1967, well outside the taxon's recognized range. *''Diphylla ecaudata ecaudata'' is found from

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and eastern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

to eastern

Description

It is similar in appearance to the

common vampire bat The common vampire bat (''Desmodus rotundus'') is a small, leaf-nosed bat native to the Americas. It is one of three extant species of vampire bats, the other two being the Hairy-legged vampire bat, hairy-legged and the white-winged vampire bats ...

. It differs, however, in its broad, short ears; padless, short thumb; and large, shiny eyes. It also has more teeth than the common vampire bat (26 compared to 18), with a

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiology ...

of . Additionally, its brain is smaller than that of the common vampire bat, at two-thirds the size by mass. Its

uropatagium The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (including b ...

is narrow and very furry; as its species name indicates, it lacks a tail. The fur on its back is dark brown, while the fur on its ventral surface is lighter in color. Its fur is soft and long. Its

nose-leaf A nose-leaf, or leaf nose, is an often large, lance-shaped nose, found in bats of the Phyllostomidae, Hipposideridae, and Rhinolophidae families. Because these bats Animal echolocation, echolocate nasally, this nose-leaf is thought to serve a role ...

is greatly reduced in size relative to other leaf-nosed bats. It weighs . Its head and body combined are long. Its forearm is long. There are no lingual grooves under the tongue as in ''Desmodus'' and ''Diaemus'' (the

white-winged vampire bat The white-winged vampire bat (''Diaemus youngi''), a species of vampire bat, is the only member of the genus ''Diaemus''. They are found from Mexico to northern Argentina and are present on the islands of Trinidad and Margarita Island. Etymology ...

), but it does have a groove along the roof of the mouth which may serve as a "blood gutter".

Biology and behavior

It is thought to be

polyestrous The estrous cycle (, originally ) is a set of recurring physiological changes induced by reproductive hormones in females of mammalian subclass Theria. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous phas ...

, with individuals capable of becoming pregnant throughout the year and no clearly defined

breeding season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and ch ...

. Females are capable of becoming pregnant at approximately one year of age. Pregnancy lasts a relatively long time considering the small body size of the species, at gestation length of approximately 5.5 months. Females give birth to usually only one young, called a pup. Pups are born with their eyes open and a set of

deciduous teeth Deciduous teeth or primary teeth, also informally known as baby teeth, milk teeth, or temporary teeth,Fehrenbach, MJ and Popowics, T. (2026). ''Illustrated Dental Embryology, Histology, and Anatomy'', 6th edition, Elsevier, page 287–296. are ...

. There are fewer deciduous teeth than permanent teeth (20 compared to 26), with a deciduous dental formula of Females who have lost their pups will continue to lactate, and females have been observed nursing the young of unrelated females. Pups will

fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between egg, hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnera ...

at approximately 57 days old, though they will continue to nurse and seek regurgitated blood from their mothers long after that, up until approximately 223 days of age. It is nocturnal, and roosts in sheltered areas during the day. Caves and mines are preferred roosts, though hollow trees may also be used. It is generally solitary, but may be found roosting in small groups of twelve or fewer individuals. Groups of up to 50 individuals have been reported, though. It will share its roosts with the common vampire bat, as well as other leaf-nosed bats. It was originally described to have a diploid karyotype of 28 chromosomes, but it actually has 32. It is sanguivorous, feeding on the blood of vertebrates. It was formerly believed to feed exclusively on

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s. However, it has since been documented that it will feed on the blood of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s, including

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

s and cattle. Previously thought to have not been a vector species for

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...

due to exclusively feeding on bird blood, it is now a possibility that it can transmit rabies while feeding on cattle, like the

. It also shares its food with other individuals via regurgitation, mouth to mouth.

Range and habitat

It has a wide geographic range, occurring throughout Central and South America. It has been documented in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. A single individual was once documented in southern

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in the United States. This individual, a female found close to Comstock, Texas in 1967, was in an abandoned railroad tunnel. The individual was approximately north of the previous documented extent of the species's range. Its altitudinal range is .

Conservation

It is currently evaluated as

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

—the lowest conservation priority. It meets the criteria for this designation because it has a large range, tolerates a variety of habitats, and its population is thought to be stable. It can be maintained in captivity by allowing them access to live hens.

References