They do not appear to be mentioned at all in the lore of the Aztecs, one of the largest civilizations of ancient Mesoamerica. Throughout the Maya ruins in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, hieroglyphics and graphic depictions of the vampire bat can be found. That bats are depicted with great frequency in some Pre-Columbian cultures, but not others, suggests that some groups had a special relationship with bats. In various South American myths of the origin of life, a human ancestor mated with an animal. Bats do not play this role in recent folklore and, apparently, Pre-Columbian erotic scenes do not involve bats, but there are other indications that some cultures may have had a mythical bat in their ancestor list.
Some folklore portrays female bats as alluring to men.
One tale tells of a man summoned by bats in a tree when he was returning from an evening hunt. He went to have a drink with them and became attracted to a female bat. Finally, his wife, aware of what was happening, set fire to the tree and killed both her husband and the bats. In other stories, bats are husbands in folktales, although often the wife does not realize at first that she is married to a bat. Some of the finest Tairona objects are cast-gold pendants representing elaborately dressed figures, probably rulers or their ancestors.