Blood-sucking insects like Tsetse flies fuel their activity by burning amino acids from their protein-rich blood meals. In contrast, vertebrates are not adept at using amino acids for fuel, instead relying mostly on carbohydrates. However, one group of vertebrates has evolved to share a love of eating blood: vampire bats. For vampire bats, a tasty blood meal is the equivalent of an energy drink. And, unlike most bats, vampire bats are capable runners, meaning researchers were able to study their metabolism within a small treadmill rather than a flight tunnel. After a meal of cow’s blood, bats ran on a treadmill as their respiratory rate was monitored to determine the energy source they were using. Results found that vampire bats can fuel most of their running with amino acids in a blood meal eaten only minutes before, just like some insects!Read the article in Biology Letters:https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0453 | Royal Society Publishing