Some Normal Values of Peripheral Blood in the Vampire Bat

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Data derived from study of peripheral blood samples of adult captive vampire bats, Desmodus rotundus, are here presented in order to provide some standard values for the blood of this important species; these include total red and white cell counts, differential white cell count, hematocrit and hemoglobin values. The red cell values are high as in other bats, and the total white cell population is characteristicallylow, being only 30%, however, of the value previously reported for the vampire. Hematocrit and hemoglobin values are higher than in mammals generally (related to the high red cell value) but approximate values reported in other bat species.