Vampire bats rely on amino acids from their blood diet to fuel their exercise, scientists discovered after observing the animals on tiny treadmills.

For vampire bats, however, it turns out a heaping bowl of amino acid-rich blood will suffice. Researchers from the University of Toronto captured several vampire bats and taught them to run on a ...

The researchers found that vampire bats — like blood-sucking insects — are capable of metabolizing amino acids as a primary energy source.

They caught 24 wild adult vampire bats in Belize, and divided them into groups. One group of nine bats was fed cow's blood enriched with leucine, an essential amino acid (one that mammals can't ...

With gargoyle-like faces, razor-sharp fangs and an insatiable thirst for blood, vampire bats are nightmare fuel. And that’s before they start running. Unlike most bats, which largely avoid the ...

After the vampire bats ate, they were each placed on a miniature treadmill. According to Dr. Welch, the dexterous bats initially used their thumbs to hook into crevices to avoid the moving belt.

To work out where bats were getting their energy, the animals were fed a meal of cow’s blood roughly eight minutes before being placed in the centre of the treadmill chamber.

Vampire bats build reciprocal relationships Blood is not very nutritious, and vampire bats that fail to feed will starve relatively quickly.

A behavioral ecologist explains the reciprocal social relationships vampire bats maintain, in sickness and in health.

53. How does a vampire enter his house? Through the bat flap! 54. Why is a cemetery a great place to write a story? Because there are so many plots there! 55. Why do Jack-o-lanterns have wicked ...