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The long-tongued nectar bat (Macroglossus minimus), also known as the northern blossom bat, honey nectar bat, [2] least blossom-bat, [3] dagger-toothed long-nosed fruit bat, [1] and lesser long-tongued fruit bat, [1] is a species of megabat. M. minimus is one of the smallest species in the family Pteropodidae, with an average length of 60–85 ...
The species has a distinctly elongated snout tipped with a roughly 5 mm-long nose-leaf. The tongue is long, narrow and extendible, specialized for nectar feeding. It is covered with tiny hairlike papillae, which become more horny towards the base of the tongue. The skull is up to 30 mm long, with the rostrum making up 40-50% of total length.
It has the fastest metabolism ever recorded in a mammal, similar to those of hummingbirds.Although it uses 50% of its stored fat over the course of a day, over 80% of its energy comes directly from the simple sugars that compose its diet of nectar, without being stored in any form. [3]
Lesser long-nosed bats feed mainly on nectar from night-blooming plants such as saguaro, organ pipe cactus, [8] as well as century plant and other agaves. They are important pollinators of night-blooming cactus. [9] They may also eat some cactus fruits, and, during the winter, on pollen from a range of other plants as the opportunity arises. [2]
An Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) feeding on nectar through its long proboscis. In zoology, a nectarivore is an animal which derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants.
The bat has the longest tongue (8.5 cm) relative to its body size of any mammal. Its tongue is 150% the size of its overall body length. By convergent evolution, pangolins, the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), and the tube-lipped nectar bat all have a tongue that is detached from their hyoid bones and extend past the pharynx deep into the thorax. [3]
Only three species of microbat feed on the blood of large mammals or birds ("vampire bats"); these bats live in South and Central America. Although most "Leaf-nose" microbats are fruit and nectar-eating, the name “leaf-nosed” isn't a designation meant to indicate the preferred diet among said variety. [ 3 ]
Bat species in the genus Lonchophylla feed on nectar and differ from fruit-eating bats by having a long, extensible tongues and elongated skulls and muzzles, adapted to their feeding behaviour. L. peracchii is distinguished from L. bokermanni by its fur color and ear shape; the Cerrado species has a grayer hue and shorter, rounder ears. [1] [3]