Science and Exploration

Softhearted · 08-10-2011, 09:02 PM

"How vampire bats find blood

How vampire bats know precisely where to bite to strike a blood-spurting vein close to the skin has always been a mystery — until now.

A team of American and Venezuelan scientists studying wild vampire bats in South America has discovered a heat-sensing molecule called TRPV1 covering nerve endings on the bats' noses.

The finding, published in this week's journal Nature, shows how small changes to a particular species' genes can lead to important evolutionary adaptations."

source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/st...t-seeking.html

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/1108....2011.454.html

Gracheva, E.O et al. (2011). Ganglion-specific splicing of TRPV1 underlies infrared sensation in vampire bats. Nature, 476: 88-91.

08-10-2011, 09:02 PM	#11
Softhearted Member How Do You Identify?: --- Preferred Pronoun?: ---- Relationship Status: --- Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: --- Posts: 298 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 454 Thanked 285 Times in 109 Posts Rep Power: 1556235	Bats!!! I love these little guys!!! "How vampire bats find blood How vampire bats know precisely where to bite to strike a blood-spurting vein close to the skin has always been a mystery — until now. A team of American and Venezuelan scientists studying wild vampire bats in South America has discovered a heat-sensing molecule called TRPV1 covering nerve endings on the bats' noses. The finding, published in this week's journal Nature, shows how small changes to a particular species' genes can lead to important evolutionary adaptations." source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/st...t-seeking.html http://www.nature.com/news/2011/1108....2011.454.html Gracheva, E.O et al. (2011). Ganglion-specific splicing of TRPV1 underlies infrared sensation in vampire bats. Nature, 476: 88-91.