Spanish Name: Murciélago Vampiro

Size:body length of 2.5-3.5 inches
and a wingspan of 8 inches. 
 

Life span: In the wild, vampire bats live about 9 years but have lived up to 27 years in captivity 
 

Predators: The predators of the Vampire Bat are humans because the Vampire Bats transmit rabis, so humans give the cows a substance to their skin so that when Vampire Bats bite them, they get infected.  (This doenst harm/affect the cow).
 

Adaptations:  Vampire bats are active only during the darkest periods of the night. It is the time when they are most likely to avoid being caught by such nocturnal preditors as owls.  Also, the domestic animals on which the bats feed are often sleeping, and so are easier to approach undetected.  During the day, vampire bats roost in colonies, hanging upside down in caves and hollow trees. They will sometimes move from one daytime roost to another which is closer to their prey. This kind of activity indicates that vampire bats learn from experience where their prey can be found.  Vampire bats also use rivers as navigational tools as they move from one part of their range to another. The rivers are easier to follow than wooded routes, and cattle often graze in pastures near water.

Interesting facts:
The anticoagulant in the saliva of vampire bats is estimated to be 20 times more potent than any other anticoagulant currently known.  The blood-thinning drug Draculin was developed from vampire bat saliva to treat heart attacks and strokes in humans. 
       Along with flying, vampire bats can run, jump, and hop with great speed,  using their chest muscles to fling
       themselves skyward. 
       In 1 year, a colony of 100 Common vampire bats will consume the amount of blood equivalent to the total
       amount of blood in 20 horses or 25 cows. 
 
 

Bibliography:  (go to MLA site)
Cavendish, Marshall. International Wildlife Encyclopedia.
                           Jerusalem: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1994. 

                         "Vampire Bat" http://www.angelfire.com/va/vampirebats/ 26 Mar. 2003

Picture:  http://pro.corbis.com/search/searchFrame.asp?lcd=en-US&ccd=us

Researchers: Blanca Benavides, Tommy Savage