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29 September 2026
Vampire bats have a reputation that is difficult to repair.
They drink blood.
They have sharp teeth.
They come out at night.
But there is another side to them that is surprisingly familiar.
They have friends.
Vampire bats live in social groups, and some individuals develop particularly close relationships. They groom one another, spend time together and, when one bat fails to find food, a close companion may share some of its own meal.
Researchers have now found something even more interesting.
Socially close vampire bats tend to develop more similar ways of communicating. In other words, bats that spend more time together can begin to sound more alike. The strongest vocal similarities were found among unrelated bats that also shared food.
It is not so different from people.
Spend enough time with someone and you may start using the same expressions, the same little jokes, even the same way of saying certain things.
Apparently, bats do something similar.
We always thought friendship was a very human idea.
Perhaps we were simply not looking closely enough at the night sky.
Rajat Chandra Sarmah, Guwahati, Assam, India, Instagram @rajatchandrasarmah, YouTube: conversewithasmile, email rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
