Vampire Bat

• It shares food by regurgitating blood to feed hungry roost-mates, unrelated ones included.
• Its saliva contains a powerful anticoagulant called draculin, a subject of medical research.
• It feeds entirely on blood, mostly from livestock.
• comportamientoIt will share regurgitated blood with others that failed to feed that night, a reciprocal social behaviour documented over many years.
• fisiologíaOf the more than 1,400 bat species known in the world, only three feed solely on blood, and all three come from Latin America.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat & environment

Warm, humid tropical and subtropical forest of Mexico, Central and South America, in caves, hollow trees and abandoned buildings

Birth weight

5 - 8 grams

Size at birth

Well developed, its eyes already open at birth

Sexual maturity

9-10 months

Gestation / incubation

189-214 days (~7 months)

Litter / clutch size

1 young (twins rare)

Lifespan in captivity

Documented record of 29.2 years in captivity

Sources consulted: AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); University of Maryland (species accounts); Dimensions.com; Denver Zoo; Animal Diversity Web; A-Z Animals; Animalia.bio; PMC (reproductive seasonality study)

Best time: All year round in tropical America, at night; its colonies occupy caves, mines and abandoned buildings near livestock.