Scanning electron micrograph of the tip of Glossophaga soricina’s tongue after saline injection.CALLY HARPERThe tongue of the nectar-feeding bat Glossophaga soricana has a trick for getting the most out of every flower: scores of hair-like filaments, which usually lay flat, suddenly inflate and flare out in all directions within an eighth of second as the bat extends its tongue into the sugary liquid. Known as papillae, these filaments are made erectile by a hydraulic process in which blood is rapidly pumped through an intricate vascular system in the tongue, according to new research in which the bats were captured lapping at nectar on high-speed video.
The authors of the study, published today (May 6) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, claim that the physiological mechanism driving this rapid transformation of the tongue tip could inspire novel medical devices to probe and manipulate blood vessels and intestines.
“It’s an impressive paper,” Kurt Schwenk, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut who was not involved in the study, said in an email to The Scientist. “I don't believe anyone suspected that the brush-like papillae on the tips of these bat tongues were so organized, let alone dynamic and moveable. The use of pressurized blood to erect the papillae hydraulically is especially surprising, and the authors have done an amazing job visualizing the process.”
Scientists have long known that the ...
