Remains of a "giant vampire bat" were discovered in an Argentinian cave. The fossil remains are of a species called, dramatically, Desmodus draculae after Bram Stoker's vampire.
Their study, published in Ameghiniana, says that fossils of the giant vampire bat were found inside a cave located near the city of Miramar and date back 100,000 years ago. Research indicates that this cave was a burrow used by giant sloths that were nearly five metres tall, which were possibly prey of the giant vampire bats.
The researchers estimate that the giant vampire bat was approximately the size of a computer keyboard. The fossils that were discovered include a lower jaw bone and currently reside in the Paleontological Laboratory of the Miramar Museum of Natural Sciences.
Um, yikes? My keyboard is 11 inches long, which is only about twice the size of the little mosquito-eating bats that hang out in my chimney. Some fruit bats have 16-inch bodies. Then again, some keyboards may be 16 inches long. So how big was the giant vampire bat? It turns out that the find in Argentina is not a newly-discovered species. Wikipedia tells us more about Desmodus draculae.
It is the largest-known vampire bat to have ever lived. The length of its skull is 31.2 mm (1.23 in), and its humerus length was approximately 51 mm (2.0 in), as compared to the extant common vampire bat at 32.4–42.4 mm (1.28–1.67 in). Its skull was long and narrow, and its face had an upturned snout.[6]
So while the giant vampire bat wasn't all that big, it was much bigger than the puny vampire bats we have today. They would have to use quite a bit of artistic license to make a horror film about Desmodus draculae. Still, you have to give credit to a monster that sucked blood from a 20-foot-tall sloth. Read more about the latest discovery at the Weather Network. -via Damn Interesting
(Image credit: Miramar Museum of Natural Sciences)