The secrets of super-slurper bat tongues
Hair-like structures help animals effectively scoop nectar with each dip
Sid Perkins
Apr 11, 2018 — 6:45 am EST
The tongue is a wonderfully versatile muscle. It helps you speak, taste food and swallow. Animals’ tongues have many important jobs too. For instance, while people may use their tongue to lick a lollipop, hummingbirds and some bats use theirs to slurp up a flower’s sweet, sticky nectar. And those who do it best can get a big assist from tongues that are basically hairy, new data show.
One such animal is the Pallas’ long-tongued bat, or Glossophaga soricina (Gla-SOFF-uh-guh Sor-ih-SEE-nuh). Its tongue is long — longer than its entire head! That allows it to reach deeply into tube-like flowers. But that tongue is extraordinary in another way, too. Its tip is covered with long, hair-like structures, observes Alice Nasto. She’s works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. As a mechanical engineer, she designs, develops, builds and tests mechanical devices.
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/secrets-super-slurper-bat-tongues
