It then uses its razor-sharp teeth to cut open the skin of its hosts and lap up their blood with its long tongue.

Its conservation status is categorized as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because of "its wide distribution, presumed large population tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, and because it is unlikely to be declining at nearly the rate required to qualify for listing in a threatened category."

[10] A description published under the name Desmodus puntajudensi (Cuban vampire bat) by Woloszyn and Mayo in 1974 was later recognized as synonymous with this species.

[13] They can run using a unique, bounding gait in which the forelimbs are used instead of the hindlimbs to propel forward, as the wings are much more powerful than the legs.

[3] These bats also have well-developed senses of smell and hearing: the cochlea is highly sensitive to low-frequency acoustics, and the nasal passages are relatively large.

It prefers warm and humid climates,[18][19] and uses tropical and subtropical woodlands and open grasslands for foraging.

[20] They occupy the darkest and highest places in the roosts; when they leave, other bat species move in to take over these vacated spots.

The common vampire bat feeds primarily on mammalian blood, particularly that of livestock such as cattle and horses.

[18] Vampire bats feed on wild prey like the tapir, but seem to prefer domesticated animals, and favor horses over cattle when given the choice.

[21] It pierces the animal's skin with its teeth, biting away a small flap,[24] and laps up the blood with its tongue, which has lateral grooves adapted to this purpose.

[3] Mating usually lasts three to four minutes; the male bat mounts the female from the posterior end, grasps her back with his teeth, holds down her folded wings, and inseminates her.

[25] Vampire bats are reproductively active year-round, although the number of conceptions and births peak in the rainy season.

[26] Regurgitated food sharing in common vampire bats has been studied in both the lab and field, and is predicted by kinship, association, and reciprocal help [27] In a field study conducted in Costa Rica from 1978 to 1983,[21] vampire bats frequently switched between several roost trees and co-roosted with kin and non-kin.

[27] Mean genetic kinship within roosting groups was low (r = 0.03 − 0.11), but 95% of food sharing observed in the wild occurred between close kin (first cousins or higher).

It was suggested that while grooming, a bat might assess the size of its partner's abdomen to determine if it really needs to eat.

[28] The highest occurrence of rabies in vampire bats occurs in the large populations found in South America.

[29] Joseph Lennox Pawan, a government bacteriologist in Trinidad, found the first infected vampire bat in March 1932.

[citation needed] Although most bats do not have rabies, those that do may be clumsy, disoriented, and unable to fly, which makes them more likely to come into contact with humans.

There is evidence that it is possible for the rabies virus to infect a host purely through airborne transmission, without direct physical contact of the victim with the bat.

A genetically engineered drug called desmoteplase, which uses the anticoagulant properties of the saliva of Desmodus rotundus, has been shown to increase blood flow in stroke patients.