Vampire Bats’ Secret: Running on Blood for Power

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Blood Run

Vampires run on carb-free power. Treadmills uncovered how vampire bats metabolize energy on blood-only diets.

• Blood lacks carbs and lipids used by most mammals for energy

• Vampire bats often run after landing to catch prey

• Special treadmills enabled metabolic breath analysis

In less than 10 minutes, the bats converted amino acids into enough energy for over 1.5 hours of running. Placing their metabolism closer to the tsetse fly than mammals. For comparison, I just won’t run 1.5 hours. 😅 

Transylvania Run Club

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