Tube-lipped Nectar Bat

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Tube-lipped Nectar Bat
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Phyllostomidae
Genus: Anoura
Species: A. fistulata
Binomial name
Anoura fistulata
Muchhala, 2005

The Tube-lipped Nectar Bat (Anoura fistulata) is a bat from Ecuador which was first described in 2005.[1] The bat has the longest tongue (8.5 cm) relative to its body size of any mammal; its tongue is 150% the size of its overall body length.

By convergent evolution pangolins, the giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, and the tube-lipped nectar bat all have tongues which are detached from their hyoid bone and extend past their pharynx deep into the thorax.[2] This extension lies between the sternum and the trachea.

Despite its exceptionally long tongue, the tube-lipped nectar bat has a varied diet that includes nectar, pollen and insects. This arrangement is possible due to its short jaw; the base of the tongue is in the bat's rib cage.[3] One plant, Centropogon nigricans with its 8-9 cm-long corollas, is pollinated exclusively by this bat.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Muchhala, Nathan; Patricio Mena, and Luis Albuja (2005). "A NEW SPECIES OF ANOURA (CHIROPTERA: PHYLLOSTOMIDAE) FROM THE ECUADORIAN ANDES" (PDF, Reprint). Journal of Mammalogy 86 (3): 457–461. doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2005)86[457:ANSOAC]2.0.CO;2. 
  2. ^ Nectar bat stows huge tongue in its rib cage. N. Muchhala, Nature (2006) 444, 701
  3. ^ Bryner, Jeanna. Bat found to have longest licker. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.

[edit] External links

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