How big does a Common vampire bat get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) reaches an average size of 7.8 cm (0′ 4″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 19.5 years, they grow from 6 grams (0.01 lbs) to 33 grams (0.07 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Common vampire bats have 1 babies about 1 times per year. The Common vampire bat (genus: Desmodus) is a member of the family Phyllostomidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) is a small, leaf-nosed bat native to the Latin america. It is one of three extant species of vampire bat, the other two being the hairy-legged and the white-winged vampire bats. The common vampire bat practices hematophagy, mainly feeding on the blood of livestock. The bat usually approaches its prey at night while they are sleeping. It then uses its razor-sharp teeth to cut open the skin of its hosts and lap up their blood with its long tongue.The species is highly polygynous, and dominant adult males defend groups of females. It is one of the most social of bat species with a number of cooperative behaviors such as social grooming and food sharing. Because it feeds on livestock and is a carrier of rabies, the common vampire bat is considered a pest. Its conservation status is categorized as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because of “its wide distribution, presumed large population tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, and because it is unlikely to be declining at nearly the rate required to qualify for listing in a threatened category.”
Animals of the same family as a Common vampire bat
We found other animals of the Phyllostomidae family:
- Commissaris’s long-tongued bat with a weight of 9 grams
- Leach’s single leaf bat with a weight of 8 grams
- Tschudi’s yellow-shouldered bat with a weight of 21 grams
- Gnome fruit-eating bat with a weight of 10 grams
- Lesser long-tongued bat with a weight of 8 grams
- Mexican long-tongued bat with a size of 6.6 cm (0′ 3″)
- Chestnut short-tailed bat with a weight of 13 grams
- Great fruit-eating bat with a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Greater broad-nosed bat with a size of 8.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Lesser long-nosed bat with an average maximal age of 10 years
Animals with the same size as a Common vampire bat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Common vampire bat:
- Golden mouse with a size of 9.2 cm (0′ 4″)
- Van Zyl’s golden mole with a size of 8.4 cm (0′ 4″)
- Sandy inland mouse with a size of 8.2 cm (0′ 4″)
- Bates’s shrew with a size of 6.8 cm (0′ 3″)
- Usambara shrew with a size of 7.9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Montane grass mouse with a size of 7.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- True’s shrew mole with a size of 6.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Taiwanese brown-toothed shrew with a size of 6.7 cm (0′ 3″)
- North African gerbil with a size of 9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Southern three-striped opossum with a size of 8.6 cm (0′ 4″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Common vampire bat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Common vampire bat:
- Eastern white-eared giant rat
- Black-headed spider monkey
- Banana pipistrelle
- Polar bear
- Malagasy serotine
- Pond bat
- Bontebok
- White rhinoceros
- Red bush squirrel
- Pale spear-nosed bat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Common vampire bat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Common vampire bat:
- Fossa (animal) with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Black-fronted duiker with an average maximal age of 19.67 years
- African brush-tailed porcupine with an average maximal age of 22.83 years
- Takin with an average maximal age of 19.5 years
- Blue wildebeest with an average maximal age of 21.5 years
- Nabarlek with an average maximal age of 17 years
- Lechwe with an average maximal age of 18.5 years
- West Caucasian tur with an average maximal age of 20.5 years
- Raccoon with an average maximal age of 20.83 years
- Ross seal with an average maximal age of 21 years
Animals with the same weight as a Common vampire bat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Desmodus rotundus:
- Panamint kangaroo rat bringing 37 grams to the scale
- Brazilian slender opossum bringing 38 grams to the scale
- Macroscelides proboscideus bringing 38 grams to the scale
- Geoxus valdivianus bringing 31 grams to the scale
- Greater mouse-tailed bat bringing 28 grams to the scale
- Blanford’s fruit bat bringing 28 grams to the scale
- White-winged vampire bat bringing 36 grams to the scale
- Dorothy’s slender opossum bringing 37 grams to the scale
- Nigerian gerbil bringing 29 grams to the scale
- Oligoryzomys nigripes bringing 29 grams to the scale