Saturday, March 19, 2005

Cornell News: vampire bats run

Sarah Davidson, writing for Cornell News Service, outlines a project that put vampire bats on a treadmill - and came up with some surprising results.

The article provides pictures, and the option of a Quicktime movie.

...Not only are vampire bats unusual because they run, but also in the way that they power their gait. "Unlike most animals which use their hind legs as a source of power, these exceptional creatures power their run with their forelimbs," Hermanson explains. Getting most of the push from their long forelimbs -- actually their wings and therefore very strong -- the bats run more like a small gorilla than a comparable four-legged creature like a mouse. They run up to about 2.5 miles per hour. Although many of the 1,100 species of bats are known to walk, the common vampire is the only one so far to pass Riskin and Hermanson's treadmill test and break into a running gait...

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