Sanguivory is a challenging food source: it is mostly liquid which can overwhelm the kidneys and bladder, it contains a lot of protein, there is a risk of it carrying blood-borne pathogens, etc. To cope with these challenges, vampire bats have evolved microbiomes that are highly specialized to face these challenges. Although the common vampire bat has a gut microbiome that is taxonomically more similar to insectivorous and carnivorous bats than to frugivorous (fruit-eating) bats, and although insectivorous, carnivorous, and frugivorous bats all have similarly functioning gut microbiomes, vampire bats have gut microbiomes that are unique. A study on “Hologenomic adaptations underlying the evolution of sanguivory in the common vampire bat” (Mendoza et al. 2018) suggests that the function of the microbiome may be influenced more by phylogeny than taxonomy, and that the vampire bat’s gut microbiome is specialized for its highly specific diet.
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