1840. _D[esmodus]. murinus_ Wagner, _in_ Schreber, Die
Saeugthiere ..., Suppl., 1:337, type from Mexico.
1912. _Desmodus rotundus murinus_, Osgood, Field Mus. Nat.
Hist., Publ. 155, Zool. Ser., 10:63, January.
_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Southern part of state, north
at least to vicinity of Jimenez.
Hall and Kelson (1959:151) listed a place 12 kilometers west and 8
kilometers north of Ciudad Victoria as the northernmost locality of
record for _Desmodus_, but three specimens from Cueva La Esperanza, 6
kilometers southwest of Rancho Santa Rosa, are from a site slightly to
the northwestward (12 mi.) of the locality first mentioned and a
specimen from 13 miles west and six and a half miles north of Jimenez
represents the northeasternmost known occurrence of _Desmodus_ in
eastern Mexico.
Most of the vampires examined in this study were taken in caves; those
from four miles southwest of Padilla were obtained from a hollow tree.
Nine specimens were collected in a small cave 70 kilometers south of
Ciudad Victoria on January 18, when water on the floor of the cave was
frozen; the bats were congregated on the ceiling at a height of 20
feet. In a cave in the Sierra de Tamaulipas, 16 miles west and three
miles south of Piedra, females and young were found some 50 yards from
the entrance; _Natalus stramineus_ and _Glossophaga soricina_ were
obtained from the same cave. In another cave only half a kilometer
distant, 12 males were collected. In Cueva La Mula, _Desmodus_ was
found near the mouth, whereas _Choeronycteris mexicana_ and two
_Tadarida brasiliensis_ were collected in the deepest part. At Cueva La
Esperanza, 300 feet deep and on the east side of the Sierra Madre
Oriental, four different congregations of vampires were found along
with about 400 _Natalus_. A male _Desmodus_ obtained in a cave 13 miles
west and six and a half miles north of Jimenez also was associated with
_Natalus_.
Females with embryos or in lactation were collected as follows: Rancho
Pano Ayuctle, March 10, one pregnant female (embryo 40 mm. in
crown-rump length); Rio Sabinas, May 23, two pregnant females (embryos
36 and 43 mm.); Sierra de Tamaulipas, June 13, five lactating females
and one female taken alive that gave birth on June 16 to one young;
Cueva La Mula, August, nine lactating females. A male from the Sierra
Madre that was obtained on January 5 had testes 8 mm. long.
The average weight of 21 adults from four miles southwest of
Padilla was 39.1 (32.0-44.5) grams.
_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 107: 3 mi. W,
6.5 mi. N Jimenez, 1250 ft., 1; Rio Soto la Marina, 4 mi. SW
Padilla, 800 ft., 23; Cueva La Esperanza, 6 km. SW Rancho
Santa Rosa, 360 m., 3; Cueva Los Troncones, 8 km. N, 12 km.
W Cd. Victoria, Sierra Madre Oriental, 2500 ft., 2; Cd.
Victoria, 1; Sierra Madre Oriental, 1900 ft., 5 mi. S, 3 mi.
W Cd. Victoria, 3; La Mula, 13 mi. N Jaumave, 19; Cueva La
Mula, 10 km. W Joya Verde, 2400 ft., 16; Joya Verde, 35 km.
SW [Cd.] Victoria, 3800 ft., 6; Sierra de Tamaulipas, 1400
ft., 3 mi. S, 16 mi. W Piedra, 10; 70 km. S Cd. Victoria
(_via_ Highway), 6 km. W of Highway, 5; Rancho Pano Ayuctle,
6 mi. N Gomez Farias, 300 ft., 7; cave near headwaters Rio
Sabinas, 10 km. N, 8 km. W El Encino, 400 ft., 11.
Additional records (Malaga and Villa, 1957:539): Cueva La
Sepultura, 7.5 km. NNW and hence 7 km. SSW (_via_ highway)
Cd. Victoria; El Ojo de Agua, at km. 10 on Valles-Tampico
highway; Cueva del Abra, 2 km. SSW Cd. Mante.
=Diphylla ecaudata= Spix