Scientists figure out how vampire bats got a taste for blood
Scientists have figured out why vampire bats are the only mammals that can survive on a diet of just blood.
Plants & Animals
Mar 25, 2022
0
659
News tagged with vampire bats
Giant extinct burrowing bat discovered in New Zealand
The fossilized remains of a giant burrowing bat that lived in New Zealand millions of years ago have been found by a UNSW Sydney-led international team of scientists.
Archaeology
Jan 10, 2018
1
1111
Rabies could spread to Peru's coast by 2020
Rabies will likely reach the Pacific Coast of Peru—where the virus currently does not occur—within four years, according to a paper published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Evolution
Sep 13, 2016
0
30
Friends help female vampire bats cope with loss
Female vampire bats form strong social bonds with their mothers and daughters as they groom and share regurgitated meals of blood. They also form friendships with less closely related bats. Gerry Carter, post-doctoral fellow ...
Plants & Animals
May 23, 2017
0
1863
One good turn: Birds swap energy-sapping lead role
Migrating birds 'share the pain' of the arduous task of leading a v-formation, so that they can then take turns saving energy by following in another bird's wake, a new study shows.
Evolution
Feb 2, 2015
1
1206
The night life: Why we need bats all the time
The sight of bats hanging upside down in creepy caves or fleeing in fluttery flocks from their subterranean haunts at dusk like "bats out of hell" may spook even the most rational, otherwise unflappable observer.
Plants & Animals
Nov 1, 2012
1
0
Bats use private and social information as they hunt
In the arms race between predators and prey, each evolves more and more sophisticated ways of catching or escaping from the other. Rachel Page, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Ximena Bernal, ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 25, 2019
0
259
Vampire bat's blood-only diet 'a big evolutionary win'
At first glance, the cost-benefit ratio of a blood-only diet suggests that vampire bats—the only mammals to feed exclusively on the viscous, ruby-red elixir—flew down an evolutionary blind alley.
Evolution
Feb 20, 2018
0
274
Scientists develop 'backpack' computers to track wild animals in hard-to-reach habitats
To truly understand an animal species is to observe its behavior and social networks in the wild. With new technology described today (April 2) in PLOS Biology, researchers are able to track tiny animals that divide their ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 2, 2020
0
306
Culling vampire bats to stem rabies in Latin America can backfire
Culling vampire bat colonies to stem the transmission of rabies in Latin America does little to slow the spread of the virus and could even have the reverse effect, according to University of Michigan researchers and their ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 2, 2013
0
0
