Tube-lipped nectar bat- Anoura fistulata

Imagine having a tongue one and a half times the length of your body. It could make quite an impression under the mistletoe at the office Christmas party.


But the exotic tube-lipped nectar bat, which really does possess such a tongue, uses its spectacular organ for a much more practical purpose.


Scientists have discovered that the bat, Anoura fistulata, a resident of the Ecuadorian cloud forest, relies on its tongue to reach nectar deep inside long funnelled flowers.


When not deployed, the 8.5 centimetre long pink tongue retracts into its rib cage.
No other mammal has such a long tongue relative to its body length. Among vertebrates, it takes second place only to that of the chameleon.


If the bat’s tongue belonged to a cat, it would be able to lap milk two feet away from its bowl. In order to measure their tongues, scientists trained bats to drink sugared water from a modified straw.


The researchers found that A. fistulata is the sole pollinator of a specialised elongated bell flower, Centropogon nigricans. Bat and flower had apparently evolved to rely on each another.


In return for its loyalty to one flower, the bat has been given the great advantage of having access to nectar no rival can reach. Nathan Muchhala, a Phd student from the University of Miami in Florida, US, who reported the findings in the journal Nature, said: "The tropical forest is a remarkable ecosystem with so much still undiscovered. This bat was just discovered last year, and now we’ve observed a very unique relationship with a local flower."


Similar co-evolution has been widely observed between hummingbirds and orchids, which depend on each other for food and pollination.