Mammals
Tube-Lipped Nectar Bat
Anoura fistulata · also called tube-lipped nectar bats
Hovering briefly before a deep-throated Andean flower, a tube-lipped nectar bat unfurls a tongue longer than its own body, then coils it back into its rib cage afterward, an extraordinary adaptation shaped by a uniquely close partnership with a single flower species.
Overview
The tube-lipped nectar bat, Anoura fistulata, is a small nectar-feeding mammal native to rainforest and mountain cloud forest habitat within a limited part of the Andes in Ecuador. Its record-breaking tongue length relative to body size, unusual rib-cage tongue storage, and status as the primary pollinator of a specific co-evolved flower make it one of the most anatomically extraordinary bats found anywhere in the world.
A tongue too long for its own mouth
Few adaptations in the animal kingdom are as extreme as the tube-lipped nectar bat’s tongue, so long relative to its body that it must be stored coiled inside the rib cage, all in service of reaching nectar no other pollinator can access.
Status
Least Concern, though its restricted Andean range and close dependence on a single flower species make its long-term outlook worth continued monitoring.
Tube-Lipped Nectar Bat: common questions
How long is the tube-lipped nectar bat's tongue?
This species has a tongue that can extend to roughly one and a half times its own body length, the longest tongue relative to body size documented in any mammal, an extraordinary adaptation for reaching deep into a specific long-tubed flower.
Where does the tube-lipped nectar bat keep its tongue when not feeding?
This species stores its extraordinarily long tongue coiled inside its rib cage when not feeding, an unusual anatomical solution needed simply to house a tongue too long to fit comfortably inside the mouth alone.
Why is the tube-lipped nectar bat important to its ecosystem?
This species is the primary, and in some cases apparently sole, pollinator of a particular flower species with an unusually long floral tube matched closely to its own tongue length, making the two species mutually dependent on one another.
Where does the tube-lipped nectar bat live?
This species is native to rainforest and mountain cloud forest habitat within a limited part of the Andes in Ecuador, a comparatively restricted range tied closely to the distribution of its primary nectar source.