Common vampire bat

 Common vampire bat

Common vampire bat

Common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) occur in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. They are famous because of their sangunivorus habit. They often feed on fresh blood of sleeping domestic animals, even human beings. Their incisors are razor sharp with which they slit the skin of the prey, where hairs or feathers are scanty, and the oozing blood is lapped up. The vampires are very sly so that the sleeping victim often remains unaware. They transmit paralytic rabies in their victims. The reason for this blood-sucking habit is the very small lumen of their oesophagus through which solid food cannot pass. The first digit of the forelimb bears claw. Tail is present. Pinna are large with a lobe called ‘tragus’. They do not have a nose-leaf. Instead, they have a naked pad wearing U-shaped grooves.