A new study has revealed some very interesting facts regarding the tongues of nectar eating bats. In fact, researchers now think that these bats might have the most dynamic tongues in the entire mammal world.
Because bats aren't small enough to land on flowers to drink the nectar like bees and butterflies can, they must instead feed while hovering around the plant. This of course is a pretty energy intensive way to eat. Scientists analyzed how bats evolved to make this process more efficient.
Brown University biologists used a high speed video camera to watch the feeding as it happened. According to their results, each dip of the nectar eating bats' tongues happen in just one-tenth of a second. Additionally, after scanning through hours of footage, they discovered tiny hair-like bits on the tips of the tongues. These structures worked as "nectar mops," efficiently snagging the liquid.
As the tongue elongates to grab the nectar, blood is pumped into the hair-like papillae, causing them to become erect and able to grab the fluid. This is the first time scientists have observed papillae like these, suggesting that bat tongues may be the most highly evolved in mammals.
They found that the papillae in nectar bats are far better at collecting liquids than even the bumps on a cat's tongue.
"It's the difference between sticking a broom handle into the liquid and sticking a mop into the liquid," study co-author Elizabeth Brainerd told Wired.
Interestingly, scientists believe the next step may be figuring out how to use this discovery to develop our own technology.
"The next step is to figure out if other nectar-feeding bats have tongues like this, and how these tongues can be used to inspire new technology," said graduate student at Brown University and lead author Cally Harper. "We think that technology modeled after these tongues could be used to create modified endoscopes that help doctors see the inside walls of intestines and arteries."
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.