A comparative study of incisor procumbency and mandibular morphology in vampire bats

Abstract

The three species of vampire bats (Phyllostomidae: Desmodontinae), Desmodus rotundus, Diaemus youngi, and Diphylla ecaudata, are the only mammals that obtain all nutrition from vertebrate blood (sanguinivory). Because of the unique challenges of this dietary niche, vampire bats possess a suite of behavioral, physiological, and morphological specializations. Morphological specializations include a dentition characterized by small, bladelike, non-occlusive cheek teeth, large canines, and extremely large, procumbent, sickle-shaped upper central incisors. The tips of these incisors rest in cuplike pits in the mandible behind the lower incisors (mandibular pits). Here, we use microCT scanning and high-resolution radiography to describe the morphology of the mandible and anterior dentition in vampire bats, focusing on the relationship between symphyseal fusion, mandibular pit size, incisor size, and procumbency. In Desmodus and Diaemus, highly procumbent upper incisors are associated with relatively small mandibular pits, an unfused mandibular symphysis with substantial bony interdigitations linking the dentaries, and a diastema between the lower central incisors that helps to facilitate the lapping of blood from a wound. In Diphylla, less procumbent upper incisors are associated with relatively large mandibular pits, a completely fused mandibular symphysis, and a continuous lower toothrow lacking a central diastema. We hypothesize that symphyseal morphology and the presence or absence of the diastema are associated with the angle of upper incisor procumbency and mandibular pit development, and that spatial constraints influence the morphology of the symphysis. Finally, this morphological variation suggests that Diphylla utilizes a different feeding strategy as compared to Desmodus and Diaemus, possibly resulting from the functional demands of specialization on avian, rather than mammalian, blood.