Discovered bats have a record long tongue

Anoura fistulata , a very rare bat species in Ecuador, has developed its tongue with an impressive length, when it is half as long as its body length, used to extract honey from a tropical forest flower.

Researcher Nathan Muchhala of the University of Miami (USA), who discovered the bat in 2003, said it was the longest known tongue in mammals.

The tongue of the bat Anoura fistulata is about the same length as the Centropogori nigricans corolla, which is 8.5 cm.

Muchhala explained in Nature that bats Anoura fistulata are the only pollinators for this flower. This is a good example of a co-evolution between a plant and its pollinators, such as between orchids and hummingbirds. Previously this was never observed in bats.

Muchhala figured out how this flying mammal could store such a long tongue into its small body. She was surprised to find the tongue coming from the chest, near the bosom of the bat.

(Photo: National Geographic)