If you want to know how vampire bats can survive on a diet that — as everyone knows — consists exclusively of blood, the answer is simple. The researchers compared the genome of the common vampire bat, scientific name Desmodus rotundus, to genomes of bat species that eat nectar, fruit, insects and meat. This bat and the world's two other vampire bat species, the hairy-legged vampire bat and the white-winged vampire bat, are the only mammals that eat just blood. The common vampire bat, a nocturnal cave-dweller with a 7-inch (18-cm) wingspan, inhabits parts of Mexico, Central America and South America. To some people, vampire bats are creatures of dread, associated with fictional vampires like Dracula.

Source: CBC News February 20, 2018 14:03 UTC