What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the word vampire? Twilight? Vampire Diaries? Fiction? But what if we told you that vampires are real? What if we told you that there’s nothing fictional about the vampires and that they exist albeit at a far away place, but they do exist.
Don’t believe us? Read on.
A group of researchers have discovered that hairy-legged vampire bats, that are found in the forests of north-eastern Brazil, have been feeding on humans at night.
There are three species of vampire bats– Desmodus rotundus, Diaemus Youngi and Diphylla ecaudata. While all these feed on blood, only Desmodus rotundus or the common vampire bat is known to feed on mammals like cows and pigs, and an attack on humans has hardly ever been recorded. Diphylla ecaudata or the hairy-legged vampire bat is mainly known to feed on birds. However, while studying the DNA fragments in the faeces of Desmodus Ecaudata, scientists found traces of chicken and human blood.
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Vampire Bat (Photo: Wikimedia)
The scientists explained that for any species to evolve as a blood-feeder, ‘extreme morphological, physiological and behavioural adaptations’ are required. For Diphylla ecaudata to ditch its conventional diet to evolve into a species that can feed on human blood is an unimaginable feat. And the reason for this is simple. Blood of animals and birds is rich in fats, while the human blood is high on proteins, making it difficult to break down or digest.
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They suggest that the switch of diets could be caused due to low availability of birds in the area, explaining the impact of human activities on local ecology. This has also raised public health concerns as bats are carriers of the rabies virus and increased incidents of ‘bat bites’ could lead to an increase in the spread of the disease.
Meanwhile, if you have any plans of travelling to the Brazilian rainforests, we suggest that you drop them immediately unless you want to go on a date with a vampire bat!
