Speculative Fact #275: Bats With Conveyor Belt Tongues

            Alien life, being a product of evolution under very different circumstances, will most definitely amaze us all by its otherness. However, even nature here on Earth can be so wacky that it can serve as inspiration for our own alien creatures.
            Lonchophylla robusta, a kind of bat, drinks nectar from flowers using a tongue like a little conveyor belt. With a combination of tongue wiggles and blood vessel movement, they can “pump” liquid into their mouths.  
            Not all beasties need jaws and claws – there could be critters out there with an archimedes screw for a tongue or a vacuum for a mouth. Now get out there and subvert our expectations for alien life.
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-Jonathan Hernandez

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