What Is the Life Span of a Vampire Bat?

The scientific name for the vampire bat is Desmodus rotundus, according to the Conservation Centre website. The common vampire bat is native to northern Mexico, southern Chile, central Argentina, Uruguay and the island of Trinidad. Vampire bats are commonly, and falsely, depicted as dangerous creatures in Hollywood movies. However, vampire bats are actually one of the only species to display human-like characteristics in terms of caring for other bats within their own species.

  1. Life Span

    • Vampire bats live for over a decade.

      Vampire bats have a life span of approximately twelve years. For a small tropical bat, vampire bats have an extremely long gestation period, ranging between 90 and 120 days. At birth, vampire bats weigh between .18 and .25 oz. After three weeks, their weight doubles to between .35 and .49 oz. The full adult weight of a vampire bat is not reached until 300 days after birth and ranges from .98 oz to 1.06 pounds. Young vampire bats remain dependent on their mother for as long as nine months when held in captivity.

    Characteristics

    • Vampire bats have an amazing ability to memorize complex flight routes.

      Vampire bats are the most intelligent species of bats and have the ability to memorize details of their various flight routes, according to the Conservation Centre. Vampire bats tend to live with groups of other vampire bats ranging in size from only six bats to over 2,000.

    Considerations

    • Vampire bats are commonly used as Halloween decorations.

      Vampire bats are one of the few species on earth, aside from humans, that display altruistic behavior. Vampire bats will regurgitate part of their meal when begged by another vampire bat that wasn’t fed on a given night. Nursing mothers will even share their milk with a hungry male vampire bat.

    Diet

    • Vampire bats commonly suck the blood of horses.

      Vampire bats live off the blood of larger animals; they cannot digest any other food. They will usually bite into animals such as horses, pigs, burros, cattle, pigs and tapirs and suck their blood. The amount of blood a bat actually drinks is about a teaspoonful. Vampire bats can feed on animals up to ten thousand times their size.

    Misconceptions

    • Vampire bats are commonly depicted as able to turn people into vampires.

      Vampire bats are not as dangerous as movies make them out to be. The only time a bite from a vampire bat can cause real harm is when a vampire bat has rabies or common cattle disease. However, when vampire bats are infected with this kind of disease, they usually die before they have a chance to spread the disease.

    Taxonomy

    • The vampire bat belongs to the mammalia class, chiroptera order and the desmodontidae family.

    Fun Fact

    • Unlike other species of bats, vampire bats will take care of another mother’s offspring. Orphaned vampire bats will often be adopted or taken care of by another mature female vampire bat.