Head to head
Spectral Bat vs Common Vampire Bat
The spectral bat and the common vampire bat both carry names that suggest bloodthirsty habits, but only one of the two actually feeds on blood, making this an unusually name-driven mismatch between two very different Neotropical bats.
| Spectral Bat | Common Vampire Bat | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Vampyrum spectrum | Desmodus rotundus |
| Relative size | Much larger, largest carnivorous bat in the Americas | Much smaller |
| Diet | Birds, rodents, and other bats | Blood only, mainly from livestock |
| Feeds on blood | No, despite the name | Yes, exclusively |
| Hunting style | Stealthy ambush of vertebrate prey | Approaches sleeping hosts on the ground |
| Conservation status | Near Threatened | Least Concern |
| Population trend | Decreasing | Increasing |
| Habitat | Rainforest | Rainforest, grassland |
Spectral Bat vs Vampire Bat: common questions
Does the spectral bat drink blood like the vampire bat?
No, despite its intimidating name and frequent confusion with true vampire bats, the spectral bat does not feed on blood at all, instead hunting and consuming whole vertebrate prey such as birds, rodents, and other bats through stealthy ambush.
Which bat is bigger, the spectral bat or the vampire bat?
The spectral bat is considerably larger, in fact the largest carnivorous bat found anywhere in the Americas, with a wingspan that can approach a metre across, dwarfing the much smaller vampire bat, which relies on stealth rather than size to approach its blood-meal hosts.
Why does only one of these two bats actually drink blood?
The vampire bat evolved a highly specialised blood-feeding lifestyle unique among all mammals, while the spectral bat instead evolved as a vertebrate-hunting predator, and the two species simply ended up with confusingly similar-sounding names despite following entirely different evolutionary paths.