Advertisementat the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany and his colleagues sequenced the common vampire bat genome and compared it with the genomes of 26 other bat species.
They discovered that the vampire bats are missing 13 genes that are found in other bats. The loss of these during their evolution may have occurred as they adapted to their unique diet, says Blumer. For example, three of the lost genes are responsible for taste receptors that tell different foods apart, which is redundant if you only feast on blood.
Two other genes that the bats have shed are normally involved in managing blood sugar levels – called glycaemic control. “We think that the blood diet of vampire bats is so limited in carbohydrates that vampire bats have lost normal glycaemic control,” says Blumer.– may have occurred to allow the vampire bats to increase the amount of iron they can excrete, since their iron-rich blood diet puts them at risk of becoming overloaded with the mineral.
“Vampire bats are especially dependent on such advanced social behaviour, as it helps them to cope with the negative consequences of their carbohydrate-poor blood diet,” says Blumer. For example, the animals commonly share regurgitated blood with roost mates that haven’t been able to find a nightly meal, suggesting a high degree of social cooperation, he says.
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Elaborate?
I don’t mind bats. I think they are quite interesting and cool. They won’t hurt you.
Drink me!
Is this case of mutation than normal bat ?
Sometimes evolution doesn't make any sense. For instance sex - females could have easily cloned or if gene mutations are required for adaptation,females could have evolved to have a male attachment. Or why didn't more animals grow larger brains to get food ? Makes no sense
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