The first Desmodus draculae fossil was located in Cueva del Guácharo in Venezuela in 1965 by Omar J. Linares, which he noted in 1968 as a possible Pleistocene species of Desmodus. A formal and accepted description of the species was published in 1988, designating the collection by Linares, a skull and post-cranial material, as the type specimen. The authors assigned the specific epithetdraculae, noting "the largest known chiropteranvampire commemorates Count Dracula, the greatest human vampire of folklore", and placed the novel species with the genus Desmodus. Desmodus draculae has been occasionally called the giant vampire bat in reference to its greater relative size.
Description
It is the largest-known vampire bat to have ever lived. The length of its skull is, and its humerus length was approximately, as compared to the extant common vampire bat at. Its skull was long and narrow, and its face had an upturned snout. Based on its skull dimensions, it may have had a wingspan of approximately and a body mass of. The proportions are equivalent the a smaller megabat or larger microbat of modern chiropteran fauna. Its braincase was wide and high.
Biology
Some researchers believe that D. draculae would have preyed on megafauna, while others believe that they would have preyed on Caviomorpha. Other potential prey items that would have been available to D. draculae include plains viscacha, deer, and camelids.
Range and habitat
Fossils of D. draculae have been found in Mexico, Belize, Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina, in six caves total. The discovery of a vampire bat fossil in Argentina also represents the southernmost point that they have been recorded by, possibly indicating that this region was at least warmer during this time. Though there are no fossils to corroborate this, it is believed that its range might have included Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, and Ecuador. The species was likely widely distributed throughout South America.
The species is regarded as geologically extinct, as only bones of it have been documented and it has not been reported in surveys. However, its extinction is assumed to be geologically recent, as some of its remains discovered were not yet fossilized. The date and reason for its extinction are currently unknown. One hypothesis for its extinction states that it was that it was highly specialized on megafaunal mammals as prey, which became extinct in the Quaternary extinction event, and D. draculae was unable to switch to smaller prey. Anecdotal reports of "large bats attacking cattle and horses" in Brazil are likely first-hand exaggerations of bat species whose behaviour is recorded as interacting with these animals.
