D. rotundus Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. D. rotundus Skull Replica measures 1x.5x.5 inches. Species name Desmodus rotundus. Known as the Vampire Bat.
D. rotundus, members of the subfamily Desmodontinae, are leaf-nosed bats currently found in Central and South America.
Their food source is the blood of other animals, a dietary trait called hematophagy.
D. rotundus are in a diverse family of bats that consume many food sources, including nectar, pollen, insects, fruit and meat.
The D. rotundus have short, conical muzzles. They also lack a nose leaf, instead having naked pads with U-shaped grooves at the tip.
The Common Vampire Bat, or D. rotundus also has specialized thermoreceptors on its nose, which aid the animal in locating areas where the blood flows close to the skin of its prey.
A nucleus has been found in the brain of vampire bats that has a similar position and similar histology to the infrared receptor of infrared-sensing snakes.
In the West Indies, the D. rotundus bat is only found on Trinidad. It prefers warm and humid climates, and uses tropical and subtropical woodlands and open grasslands for foraging.
D. rotundus Bats roost in trees, caves, abandoned buildings, old wells, and mines. Vampire bats will roost with about 45 other bat species, and tend to be the most dominant at roosting sites.
They occupy the darkest and highest places in the roosts; when they leave, other bat species move in to take over these vacated spots.
Vampire bats form strong bonds with other members of the colony. A related unique adaptation of vampire bats is the sharing of food.
A vampire bat can only survive about two days without feeding, yet they cannot be guaranteed of finding food every night. This poses a problem, so when a bat fails to find food, it will often “beg” another bat for food. A “donor” bat may regurgitate a small amount of blood to sustain the other member of the colony.
