This is a social behaviour that helps to make and keep bonds between bats – it’s a bit like going for a coffee with a friend and having a good gossip.īlood brothers. Those bats who share food also tend to groom each other. That’s how this species finds and remembers the friends they share food with. This means bats must remember the face, voice or smell of each of the bats they associate with. In order to be sure that you aren’t giving out food and receiving nothing in return, it’s necessary to remember who you have fed and who has fed you. Those who fail to reciprocate will not be fed on future occasions. Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch and it’s expected that, when one of the bats who has given food is herself hungry, the bat she has fed will return the favour. In this way, each bat loses a portion of their own food, but the bat who hasn’t fed survives. Fortunately, a bat in this predicament can get by with a little help from its friends.Ī starving bat will go to her roost mates during the day and beg for food and they’ll often oblige by regurgitating some of the blood they drank during the previous night. If a vampire bat doesn’t feed for several days it will die of starvation. But what you probably didn’t know is that vampire bats are among the few non-human animals known to show altruism. But when the bat has finished feeding, the anti-coagulant in its saliva means that blood will continue to flow from the bite wound for some time, which can seriously weaken the host animal. Grooves on the underside of the tongue line up with a groove in the lower lip to form a kind of drinking straw for the blood to flow through. The bat then dribbles saliva into the wound, which prevents the blood from clotting. Like the mythical creatures they’re named for, they feed entirely on the blood of other animals.Ī vampire bat’s incisor teeth are razor sharp and they’re used to cut a small groove or crater in the skin of the host animal. Vampire bats are found in many parts of South and Central America and all three species are nocturnal. But that’s not all – vampire bats are among the most misunderstood creatures in the animal kingdom and it’s time to set the record straight. So this parasitic creature of the night is more of a softie than you might think. This was slightly unexpected – such relationships usually deteriorate in wild animals once their physical environment is suddenly changed, but the researchers found that the 23 bats preferred to groom, feed and be fed by the buddies they had made in captivity. Once released into the wild, they kept up the habit and stayed in touch. No wonder they’re not popular with farmers, but you might be surprised to learn they form stable, long-term relationships, which appear to resemble human friendships.Ī new paper published in Current Biology found that 23 female common vampire bats ( Desmodus rotundus) formed close roosting, grooming and feeding partnerships while kept in captivity for 22 months. They also feed on the blood of domestic animals such as horses, donkeys, cattle and even humans. But in South America, vampire bats are less feared for their association with Dracula and more for their ability to carry and transmit rabies. The closest you’ve ever come to a vampire bat may be a Halloween decoration.
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