Desmodus rotundus Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. Desmodus rotundus Skull Replica measures 1x.5x.5 inches. Also known as the Vampire Bat.
Desmodus 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.
Three extant bat species feed solely on blood: the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata), and the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi).
The Desmodus 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, Desmodus 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 Desmodus rotundus has front teeth that are specialized for cutting and the back teeth are much smaller than in other bats. The inferior colliculus, the part of the bat’s brain that processes sound, is well adapted to detecting the regular breathing sounds of sleeping animals that serve as its main food source.
The highest occurrence of rabies in Desmodus rotundus occurs in the large populations found in South America. The danger is not so much to the human population, but rather to livestock.
Although most bats do not have rabies, those that do may be clumsy, disoriented, and unable to fly, which makes them more likely to come into contact with humans.
There is evidence that it is possible for the rabies virus to infect a host purely through airborne transmission, without direct physical contact of the victim with the bat.
The unique properties of the Desmodus rotundus’ saliva have found some positive use in medicine. A genetically engineered drug called desmoteplase, which uses the anticoagulant properties of the saliva of Desmodus rotundus, has been shown to increase blood flow in stroke patients.
Vampire bats hunt only when it is fully dark. Like fruit-eating bats, and unlike insectivorous and fish-eating bats, they emit only low-energy sound pulses. The common vampire bat feeds primarily on the blood of mammals (occasionally including humans).
Once the common vampire bat locates a host, such as a sleeping mammal, it lands and approaches it on the ground while on all fours. It then likely uses thermoception to identify a warm spot on the skin to bite. They then create a small incision with their teeth and lap up blood from the wound.
