We behaviorally determined the audiograms of three Common vampire bats (Phyllostomidae, Desmodus rotundus), a species specialized to exist exclusively on blood. The bats were trained to respond to pure tones in a conditioned suppression/avoidance procedure for a blood reward and a mild punisher for failures to detect the tones. Common vampire bats have a hearing range from 716 Hz to 113 kHz at a level of 60 dB. Their best hearing is at 20 kHz where they are slightly more sensitive than other bats, and they have a second peak of good sensitivity at 71 kHz. They have unusually good sensitivity to low frequencies compared to other bats, but are less sensitive to low frequencies than most mammals. Selective pressures affecting high-frequency hearing in bats and mammals in general are discussed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2012.09.011 | DOI Listing |
PLoS One
January 2025
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States of America.
Rabies is a zoonotic infectious disease of global distribution that impacts human and animal health. In rural Latin America, rabies negatively impacts food security and the economy due to losses in livestock production. The common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus, is the main reservoir and transmitter of rabies virus (RABV) to domestic animals in Latin America.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcography
October 2024
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
Bat-borne pathogens are a threat to global health and in recent history have had major impacts on human morbidity and mortality. Examples include diseases such as rabies, Nipah virus encephalitis, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Climate change may exacerbate the emergence of bat-borne pathogens by affecting the ecology of bats in tropical ecosystems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZoonoses Public Health
December 2024
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
Background: In Latin America, there is a high incidence of vampire bat-transmitted rabies in cattle causing increased mortality of livestock, which heavily impacts the agricultural sector. Anticoagulants-based control methods for the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) have been employed continuously since the 1970s with various methods of application, presentations, doses and active ingredients. Studies from half a century ago still serve as a reference for the current use of anticoagulants for bat-borne rabies control in Latin America.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiol Lett
November 2024
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto, Scarborough, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada.
In most mammals, running is fuelled by oxidization of endogenous carbohydrates and lipids while amino acids contribute little (< 5-10%). Common vampire bats (), however, specialize on a unique, protein-rich blood diet. Therefore, we hypothesized that (i) vampire bats would rapidly begin utilizing dietary amino acids to support running metabolism, and (ii) that relative reliance on essential and non-essential amino acids would be similar.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Trop
September 2024
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz Mata Atlântica, 22713-560, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Electronic address:
Bats are the second most diverse order of mammals and play a central role in ecosystem dynamics. They are also important reservoirs of potentially zoonotic microorganisms, of which rabies virus is the most lethal among the bat-transmitted zoonotic pathogens. Importantly, recent outbreaks of human rabies have been reported from the Brazilian Amazon.
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