14 DAY TRIAL // A species of bats known to the scientific community as Glossophaga soricina is now said to use blood to change the shape of its tongue.
According to several specialists, this makes it easier for the bat to feed on nectar.
The Brown University researchers who made this discovery explain that, when filled with blood as a result of local muscular contraction, several hair-like structures found on this bat's tongue become erect.
This basically means that the animal's tongue becomes strikingly similar to a mop.
“Typically, hydraulic structures in nature tend to be slow like the tube-feet in starfish,” study lead author Cally Harper explained.
“But these bat tongues are extremely rapid because the vascular system that erects the hair-like papillae is embedded within a muscular hydrostat, which is a fancy term for muscular, constant-volume structures like tongues, elephant trunks and squid tentacles,” said specialist further argued.
A detailed account of how this bat uses blood to change the shape of its tongue can be found in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.