Navigation Links
Vampire bats keep out of trouble by running

f the 1,100 species of bats are known to walk, the common vampire is the only one so far to pass Riskin and Hermanson's treadmill test and break into a running gait.

With the introduction of large herds of livestock into their native environments of Central and South America, these bats don't need to hurry to catch the cattle from which they extract perhaps a tablespoon of blood at a time for sustenance. They feed while their prey are sleeping, spending perhaps 10 minutes drinking from the small cuts they make. However, running may help them avoid being stepped on, Riskin suggests. More likely, the researchers say, the ability to run evolved long ago, when vampire bats had to prey on faster South American athletes such as the agouti, a rodent about the size of a hare, which might wake up and take a swipe at the nocturnal visitor. It remains unclear exactly what the native prey were before the introduction of cattle, he adds.

The Cornell zoologists plan to go a step further and compare the vampire bat to another species of bat endemic to New Zealand. Riskin explains, "The vampire bat is good on the ground because when you feed on the hoof of an animal that weighs 14,000 times more than you do, it's dangerous." Also, there are and always have been a variety of predators in the Western Hemisphere environment. In contrast, Riskin says, the bats and birds of New Zealand had no predators to keep them flying. Many of the birds became flightless walkers, and the bats walk more than others, as flight is energetically very expensive.

"Vampire bats in Latin America are good on the ground because it's a very dangerous place, and bats in New Zealand are good on the ground because it's a very safe place," Riskin says. While New Zealand bats definitely don't run -- they failed the treadmill test -- Riskin wants to compare the walking gaits of the two species.


'"/>

Source:Cornell University News Service


Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Vampire bats recognise their preys breathing
2. New research indicates a troubled greenhouse is brewing
3. Double trouble: Cells with duplicate genomes can trigger tumors
4. Fast test for low blood flow in dogs detects early heart trouble
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: Vampire bats keep out trouble running

(Date:6/18/2013)... , June 19, 2013  Paris Air ... as Geotest-Marvin Test Systems) , a leading provider ... aerospace industries, is demonstrating its solutions this week ... booth 3-C82. With growing challenges including increasingly complex ... demanding efficient, feature-rich, specialized aerospace test solutions that ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... the University of Calgary,s Faculty of Medicine have discovered ... from harmful bacteria. Platelets, a component of blood typically ... specific bacteria, and upon detection, seal it off from ... published in Nature Immunology this week, provide ... , "The science community has known that platelets do ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... the United Kingdom, the Energy Department,s National Renewable ... have recently published a paper describing a novel ... Limnoria quadripunctata , commonly known as the gribble. ... exhibit a relatively unique ability to produce their ... break down the biomass they eat. New biomass-degrading ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Marvin Test Solutions Demonstrates Next-Generation Armament Test Solutions at Paris Air Show 2Marvin Test Solutions Demonstrates Next-Generation Armament Test Solutions at Paris Air Show 3Immunity mechanism discovered 2Novel enzyme from tiny gribble could prove a boon for biofuels research 2
... 2011 The American Chemical Society (ACS) today released ... Solutions " podcast series showcasing a discovery that ... a key ingredient used to make everything from paint ... focus on a new way to make acrylic acid, ...
... in German . , Trichomes, hair-like projections ... herbivores: they can be obstacles, traps, or reservoirs for ... attenuata contain primarily acyl sugars, which are composed ... aliphatic acids, compounds that give baby vomit its distinctive ...
... around the world have forced many species to the brink ... multiple causes that are still not fully understood, researchers conclude ... causative factor is often missing the larger picture, they said, ... don,t consider the totality of causes or could even ...
Cached Biology News:Lollipops with side effects 2Lollipops with side effects 3Lollipops with side effects 4Catastrophic amphibian declines have multiple causes, no simple solution 2Catastrophic amphibian declines have multiple causes, no simple solution 3
(Date:6/18/2013)... KONG, June 18, 2013 China Cord Blood ... "Company"), China,s leading provider of cord blood collection, laboratory ... services, today announced its preliminary unaudited financial results for ... 2013 ended March 31, 2013. Fourth ... the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 increased by 33.3% ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... Rockville, MD, USA (PRWEB) June 18, 2013 ... today announced the opening of two new offices in ... office in Singapore will serve as RAPS’ Pan-Asia ... Shanghai office will be more focused on audiences within ... after RAPS announced its partnership with five Singapore government ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... June 18, 2013 DuPont welcomes 48 ... 11th annual DuPont National AgriScience Teachers Ambassador Academy this ... in Chestertown, Md. , The NATAA “Ag ... and is a special project of the National ... Agricultural Educators (NAAE) . The highly recommended agriscience ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... , June 18, 2013 ... release of the HELM biomolecular representation standard software ... MIT licence. HELM (Hierarchical Editing Language ... range of biomolecules (e.g. proteins, nucleotides, antibody drug ... and sequence-based informatics methodologies impractical or unusable. HELM ...
Breaking Biology Technology:China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 2China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 3China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 4China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 5China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 6China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 7China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 8China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 9China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 10China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 11China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 12China Cord Blood Corporation Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2013 13RAPS Opens Offices in Singapore and China 2RAPS Opens Offices in Singapore and China 3DuPont Sponsors National AgriScience Ambassador Academy 2DuPont Sponsors National AgriScience Ambassador Academy 3The Pistoia Alliance Releases HELM Biomolecular Representation Standard Open Source Tools 2
... Ontario, April 30, 2012  IGY Immune Technology & ... its proprietary IgY products.  IgY from chicken egg ... its immune enhancing benefits in humans as well ... fight sickness and maintain good health.  Until now, ...
... Therapeutics Inc ., a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery ... the appointment of Bruce Carter, Ph.D. to its Board ... member of the Board of Directors of Immune Design ... and as a board member of additional scientific organizations. ...
... Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the ... first self-assembly of nanoparticles into device-ready materials. Through ... blending nanoparticles with block co-polymer supramolecules, the researchers ... one-, two- and three-dimensional arrays of gold nanoparticles. ...
Cached Biology Technology:IGY Immune Technology & Life Sciences Purchases Manufacturing Facility to Produce Purified Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) 2Regulus Therapeutics Appoints Bruce Carter to its Board of Directors 2Regulus Therapeutics Appoints Bruce Carter to its Board of Directors 3Regulus Therapeutics Appoints Bruce Carter to its Board of Directors 4Golden potential for gold thin films 2Golden potential for gold thin films 3
Formulation: Phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.2, containing 0.09% sodium azide....
... 100 Instrument System is ideal for ... Upstate's Beadlyte reagents. The Luminex 100 ... with software version 1.7, the XY ... Upstate offers $2000 in free Beadlyte ...
normal human fibroblasts Source: Cell Lysate Form: Ready to Use Application: Western Blotting Control...
Purified anti-Fanconi anemia D2-Phosphorylated (Ser222)...
Biology Products: