The illustrated story of the Vampire bat Vampire bats are members of the New World Leaf-nosed bats, the Phyllostomidae. All three species of living vampire bats occur in South and Central America. Fossils of three other species reveal that several thousand years ago vampire bats were more widespread. They are known from Cuba and from as far north as West Virginia and the northern Califfornia, places where they no longer occur. With the exception of captive amimals, vampire bats have never been found outside of the New World.
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American Leaf-nosed Bats This family of 48 Recent genera and 148 species is found in the tropical and subtropical regions of the New World, from the southwestern United States and the West Indies to northern Argentina. [eng]