Panama has plenty of animals that sound as though they were invented for a horror movie, but few have a name quite as dramatic as the vampire bat. Deep in the forests, farms and cattle country of Panama, a small mammal takes to the night looking for a very particular kind of dinner: blood.

And this isn't folklore. Vampire bats are genuinely native to Panama. The species found here is the common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus, a species distributed across much of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. Panama is well within its natural range.

What makes the Panamanian vampire bat fascinating, however, isn't simply that it drinks blood. It is an extraordinarily specialized animal with remarkable senses, unusual feeding behavior and surprisingly complicated social relationships. Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama have spent years studying these bats, discovering that behind the sinister reputation is an animal capable of cooperation, friendship, learning and even adoption.

The only mammals that actually drink blood

There are thousands of bat species in the world, but only three living species are true vampire bats, and all three are native to the Americas. The common vampire bat is the one found in Panama.

Unlike fruit bats, insect eating bats and nectar feeding bats, Desmodus rotundus has evolved to survive almost entirely on blood. Its anatomy is specially adapted for this lifestyle, including sharp incisors designed to make a small cut in its prey.

And the bat doesn't swoop down and attack its victim like something from a horror film.

It actually lands on the ground.

That may be one of the strangest things about vampire bats. They are unusually capable walkers compared with most bats. Once they reach an animal, they can move around on their limbs until they find a suitable place to feed.

It doesn't suck blood

The classic vampire image is slightly wrong.

The bat doesn't sink its teeth into an animal and suck out a mouthful of blood. Instead, it makes a small incision in the skin and laps up the blood that flows from the wound.

Its saliva contains substances that help keep the blood flowing while it feeds. This is particularly important because blood begins clotting quickly. The vampire bat has essentially evolved its entire lifestyle around getting a liquid meal that is plentiful but nutritionally unusual.

And it has to eat regularly.

According to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, vampire bats can die if they go several days without obtaining a blood meal.

That creates an extraordinary evolutionary problem: what happens when a vampire bat goes hunting and comes home hungry?

The answer is one of the most fascinating discoveries about these animals.

Vampire bats share food

A vampire bat that has successfully fed may return to its roost with a stomach full of blood.

Another bat may have been unsuccessful.

Instead of simply ignoring its hungry neighbor, a vampire bat can regurgitate some of its meal and share it.

Researchers working with vampire bats in Panama have documented these food sharing relationships and found that they are particularly important among relatives and socially bonded individuals.

This means a vampire bat colony isn't simply a collection of animals hanging upside down together.

It is a social network.

Bats groom one another, maintain relationships and remember previous interactions. If one bat has helped another survive a night without food, that relationship can matter later.

In other words, the animal with perhaps the worst public relations department in the entire mammal world turns out to have a surprisingly sophisticated social life.

Scientists have studied them right here in Panama

Panama has become an important location for vampire bat research.

Researchers associated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute have studied common vampire bats at several locations in Panama, including animals captured around Tolé and cattle pasture near Las Pavas. Experiments and behavioral studies have also been conducted at the Smithsonian facilities in Gamboa.

There is even a long history of vampire bat research in Panama. A 1985 report documented research into the ecology of the common vampire bat in Chilibre, including its relationship with livestock and rabies.

So when you hear about scientists discovering surprisingly intelligent or social vampire bats, some of that knowledge comes directly from research conducted in Panama's forests and agricultural landscapes.

They aren't particularly interested in humans

This is probably the most important fact for travelers.

Vampire bats do not normally go around looking for people to bite.

Their traditional prey includes livestock and wild mammals. Cattle are particularly important in areas where forests have been converted into pasture.

Humans can be bitten, but this is not their preferred feeding strategy.

So the chances of walking through a Panamanian jungle at night and having a vampire bat swoop down onto your neck are dramatically lower than a horror movie would have you believe.

Your bigger problem is probably going to be mosquitoes.

But there is one serious reason to respect them

There is an important reason that vampire bats receive attention from public health authorities: rabies.

Vampire bats can carry rabies, and their bites can transmit the virus. The principal concern historically has been livestock rather than humans. The Smithsonian notes that vampire bat populations have been associated with significant livestock rabies problems in parts of Latin America.

That doesn't mean every vampire bat has rabies. Far from it.

It means that a bat bite should never be treated casually.

If someone is bitten or scratched by a bat, or wakes up and discovers a bat in circumstances where a bite cannot be ruled out, they should seek medical advice promptly about rabies exposure rather than waiting to see what happens.

The baby vampire bat story is almost unbelievable

One of the strangest vampire bat discoveries in Panama involved something that sounds more like a story about primates than bats.

Researchers studying vampire bats observed a young pup whose mother died. Another female in the colony subsequently adopted the baby, grooming it, feeding it and even nursing it.

The researchers already knew that vampire bats form strong social relationships, but the observation provided another extraordinary example of how complicated those relationships can become.

The female who adopted the baby had previously been closely associated with its mother.

The result was essentially a tiny bat version of an extended social family.

Vampire bats can learn from one another

Another fascinating aspect of vampire bat behavior is that young bats don't simply emerge from the roost knowing everything they need to know.

Researchers in Panama have studied how young vampire bats explore their environment and acquire feeding skills. Experiments have also examined how young bats learn to feed on animals.

This matters because feeding on blood is not as simple as it sounds.

The bat has to locate a suitable host, approach it without being detected, identify an appropriate feeding location and obtain blood efficiently.

For a tiny flying mammal operating in complete darkness, that's a remarkable set of skills.

So where might you find one?

Vampire bats are particularly associated with landscapes where their food is available. Cattle ranches, pasture and forest edges can provide excellent habitat, which is one reason they can occur surprisingly close to human activity.

They are not necessarily animals you will encounter while hiking a tourist trail.

During daylight hours, they may be tucked away in caves, hollow trees or other sheltered roosting places. At night they emerge to forage.

That means a nighttime walk through Panama can feel completely different from the same trail during the afternoon. The jungle isn't becoming quieter after dark.

It is becoming occupied by a completely different cast of characters.

Panama's real night shift

When the sun disappears over Panama, insects begin filling the air, frogs start calling, kinkajous and other nocturnal mammals become active, and bats begin pouring out of their roosts.

Some are looking for fruit.

Some are hunting insects.

Some are looking for nectar.

And somewhere in that darkness, a vampire bat may be quietly walking across the ground toward an unsuspecting cow.

It doesn't howl.

It doesn't transform into a human.

It doesn't need a coffin.

It simply finds its meal, makes a tiny cut, drinks enough blood to survive another night and eventually returns to its roost.

And perhaps the strangest part of the entire story is what happens when it gets home.

A vampire bat that ate may share its dinner with one that didn't.

For an animal with such a terrifying name, that may be the most unexpected thing about it.Vampire Bats in Panama: The Real Story Behind the Jungle’s Most Misunderstood Mammal