Comb tooth vampire

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Comb tooth vampire
Hairy-legged vampire bat, Diphylla ecaudata (closeup) .jpg

Comb-tooth vampire ( Diphylla ecaudata )

Systematics
Order : Bats (chiroptera)
Superfamily : Hare's mouths (Noctilionoidea)
Family : Leaf noses (Phyllostomidae)
Subfamily : Vampire bats (Desmodontinae)
Genre : Diphylla
Type : Comb tooth vampire
Scientific name of the  genus
Diphylla
Spix , 1823
Scientific name of the  species
Diphylla ecaudata
Spix, 1823

The comb-toothed vampire ( Diphylla ecaudata ) is a species of bat and one of the three species of vampire bats (Desmodontinae), the only mammal group that feeds exclusively on blood.

description

Comb-tooth vampires reach a head body length of 65 to 93 millimeters and a weight of 25 to 43 grams. Their fur is reddish brown in color, the underside is lighter. It differs from the other two vampire bats by the hairy uropatagium (the flight skin between the legs), in contrast to the common vampire , the ears are rounded and the thumb is short. These bats have 26 teeth, the tooth formula is 2 / 2-1 / 1-1 / 2-2 / 2 × 2. As with all vampire bats, the incisors and canines are large and sickle-shaped, while the molars are receded and without chewing surfaces. They get their name from the fan-shaped lower outer incisors.

distribution and habitat

Comb-tooth vampires live on the American continent , they are widespread from the southern USA ( Texas ) to Peru and southern Brazil . They inhabit different habitats , wet and dry regions, forests and also open grasslands. They use caves , hollow tree trunks, mines and abandoned buildings as sleeping quarters .

Way of life

Comb-tooth vampires are nocturnal. They live in groups of 12 or fewer animals, often only one to three, but have distinctive social behavior. If an animal was unsuccessful in its nocturnal prey flight, it begs the other group members, who choke up part of the blood and thus share the food. This begging behavior is often expressed through grooming, a behavior that is rare in bats outside of vampire bats. Since they have to consume blood every two nights on average and up to a third of the forays are unsuccessful, this social behavior is vital for the animals. This social behavior also includes mutual recognition and the fact that they prefer to share their food with animals that have shared with them before, a behavior known as reciprocal altruism .

food

Comb-tooth vampires feed exclusively on the blood of other animals, they prefer birds such as domestic chickens . They crawl up to their victim and bite them into areas that are not covered by feathers, such as the legs or the sewer . An enzyme in saliva prevents blood from clotting . In northern Brazil, traces of human blood were also found in the feces of comb-tooth vampires. To prove this fact, three Brazilian scientists received an Ig Nobel Prize in 2017 .

Reproduction

After a six to eight month gestation period, the female gives birth to a single young. After the first few months of life, the mother nourishes it not only with milk but also with strangled blood and is sexually mature at around nine months. The life expectancy is estimated in the wild in about nine years.

threat

These bats transmit rabies and other diseases through their bites , so they are considered a nuisance by poultry farmers. They will also be included in programs to combat rabies, which are primarily directed against the other two types of vampire. Comb-tooth vampires are the rarest of the three species and occur only locally within their large range. However, the IUCN has listed the species as not endangered since 2008 because of its wide distribution, its tolerance of different habitats, and because a sharp decline is not to be expected. In 1996 it was still considered to be potentially endangered.

Systematics

The comb-tooth vampire forms together with the common vampire ( Desmodus rotundus ) and the white-winged vampire ( Diaemus youngi ) the group of vampire bats (Desmodontinae). These are classified as a subfamily of the leaf noses (Phyllostomidae), a group of bats that is rich in shapes and restricted to the American continent . Phylogenetically , they form the sister taxon of all other leaf nose species.

literature

Web links

Commons : Diphylla ecaudata  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Hanno Charisius : At night the vampire likes to suck human blood SZ from February 2, 2017
  2. Fernando Ito, Enrico Bernard and Rodrigo A. Torres: What is for Dinner? First Report of Human Blood in the Diet of the Hairy-Legged Vampire Bat Diphylla ecaudata , bioone.org, December 2016, accessed September 16, 2017
  3. Entry on the IgNobel prices page
  4. Diphylla ecaudata in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: E. Sampaio, B. Lim, S. Peters, 2016. Accessed March 23, 2020th