Desmodus draculae is an extinct species of leaf-nosed bat that inhabited Central and South Americas from the Pleistocene epoch until the early Holocene epoch.
First described in 1988, its fossils are known from Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, Belize, and Bolivia.
Desmodus draculae had a wingspan of up to 50 cm (20 inches) and a body mass of 60 g, making it the largest known vampire bat of all time.
It belongs to the subfamily Desmodontinae (vampire bats), which also includes three extinct and three living species.
“The size of Desmodus draculae was larger than that of a computer keyboard and significantly larger than that of its living relatives,” said Dr. Santiago Brizuela, a paleontologist at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and CONICET.
The food source of Desmodus draculae and other vampire bats is blood, a dietary trait called hematophagy. READ ENTIRE ARTICLE
No comments:
Post a Comment